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What can I do?
When you are travelling abroad, there is always the possibility that a disaster occurs or an emergency situation arises. This can also be the case in seemingly safe countries, where you would not immediately expect it.
If you find yourself in a crisis situation, there are a number of important things that you can arrange yourself for your safety and that of your travel companions.
First of all, your first reflex should be to seek help via the persons or organisations available to you:
- Your family, friends, employer;
- Your tour operator or transport company;
- Your travel insurance (sometimes offered by your credit card company);
- Your health insurance fund;
- Your bank;
- The local emergency services (police, hospitals).
If your situation is serious and you cannot find assistance on your own, you may, within the framework of consular assistance, call upon Belgian representations abroad.
Follow closely the instructions of the local authorities and the advice of the FPS Foreign Affairs.
When a crisis situation arises abroad, you must always strictly follow all instructions of the local authorities. In addition, the FPS Foreign Affairs closely monitors the evolution of every crisis situation, and advice is frequently formulated via the Travel Advice and via the communication of the competent Belgian embassy or the competent Belgian consulate.
When the FPS Foreign Affairs advises you to leave a country or not to travel there, you must pay sufficient attention to this.
You remain fully responsible for the choice to leave a country or to stay there when you are advised to leave. However, you should be aware that you cannot claim consular assistance when you ignore the appeal of the FPS Foreign Affairs to leave the country.
You generally do not qualify for consular assistance when:
- You travel to an area for which the FPS Foreign Affairs advises against all travel: see the section Travel Advice.
- You go to a region where an armed conflict is taking place;
- You have not followed the appeal of the FPS Foreign Affairs to leave the area where you are staying;
- You take excessive risks without corresponding insurance.
Be prepared
Make sure that you and your fellow travellers have valid travel documents. If this is not yet the case for some of your fellow travellers, contact the competent Belgian embassy or the competent Belgian consulate for a visa application. Also make sure that you collect the necessary documents proving family ties, such as marriage and birth certificates.
Prepare yourself to be able to leave at short notice. Therefore, put together an emergency kit with an amount of food, water, cash money, medicines, a power bank, spare clothing and your identity documents. Also think of other items that are indispensable for you.
Write down the most important phone numbers (family, local contacts, local emergency numbers and numbers of the embassy or consulate) on a sheet of paper, so that you can still call them if your own phone is no longer operational.
Stay informed
Consult the travel advice of the country where you are staying regularly.
You are travelling abroad? Please register yourself on Travellers Online. You are currently living abroad? If necessary, please update your details in the consular register of the competent Belgian embassy or Belgian consulate. This will enable them to contact you when important information is shared.
Stay informed via reliable local media, official communication of the local authorities and the Travel Advice.
Keep your family or friends informed of your situation, so that they do not worry unnecessarily.
