How much should governments be held responsible if tourists ignore travel warnings?
Two Swiss have been freed after being captured by Taliban while holidaying in remote Pakistan. The Swiss government has denied reports a ransom was paid for their freedom.
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With kidnappings of tourists becoming increasingly common everywhere from the Philippines to Mali, should travellers be rethinking their holiday destinations or is it just a question of being street-smart? And should governments be responsible for tourists’ welfare even if they ignore official warnings?
July 2011:
Two Swiss tourists are captured by the Taliban while travelling in a remote region of Pakistan. They are released in March 2012.
December 2010: A 50-year-old businessman is abducted in Cuernavaca in Mexico. Although a ransom of SFr10,000 is paid by his family, he has not reappeared.
June 2010: A 71-year-old businessman, who had been abducted in the south of the Philippines, is freed by soldiers.
April 2010: Eight Red Cross workers, including one Swiss, are released after being held for a week in the Congo.
January 2010: Police in Colombia free a 32-year-old Swiss woman who had been held for a fortnight.
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Swiss citizen kidnapped in Yemen
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A Yemeni interior ministry official has said that the kidnappers were demanding that their fellow tribesmen be freed from police custody in return for her release. The Swiss foreign ministry told the Swiss News Agency that the kidnap took place in the southwestern Red Sea city of Hudaida on Wednesday. The victim is said to be 32-years-old…
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The pair from canton Bern were filmed by local television smiling and waving as they alighted from a military helicopter at Rawalpindi military base near Islamabad, where they had been transported by Pakistani authorities. In a statement on Thursday, the Swiss government said embassy officials in Islamabad were in direct contact with the couple, who…
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The police suspect Abu Sayyaf, the most prominent Islamist group, of being behind the kidnapping of a 72-year-old Swiss-Philippine dual national, who was taken by people posing as policemen and army officials. Last year the group kidnapped three workers with the Swiss-run International Committee of the Red Cross, including the Swiss Andreas Notter, from the…
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However, the government has revealed that its SFr300,000 ($275,000) budget for “consular protection” has been drained by recent kidnappings and it is discussing whether hostages or tour operators should pay for the “supplementary loan”. Greiner’s case has also raised the issues of self-responsibility and of kidnap and ransom insurance. “This operation obviously cost more than…
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A short trip geographically speaking, Yann Gross’s tour nevertheless took him to another world. Inspired by road trip films, Gross travelled the Rhone Valley by moped to document the people on Switzerland’s fringes. On the way, he discovered Switzerland’s Wild West, encountered a mountain lion, met cowboys and watched Swiss drag racers race.
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