Should the British taxpayers pay for the repatriation of British Passport holders from Lebanon?

Question

When I go abroad on holiday I have to take out medical and travel insurance ,including repatriation costs, should the need arise.

Some very interesting and valid points made here. Thank you. So far so good.

Answer 1

Your travel insurance probably excludes repatriation from war zones and civil unrest. It probably covers repatriation for medical reasons.

But to answer your question if I was caught in a war zone then I would want out as soon as possible and wouldn't want to have to think about paying for it. If people can afford to pay towards their repatriation then they should do so once the dust has settled, but some of these people will have had to leave everything behind and may never recover from the trauma.

Many of the people evacuated would have been living and working in The Lebanon, some for many years so travel insurance would not apply. Perhaps their employers should pay for their rescue????

should any charity and aid workers and organisations be exempt from any contribution towards rescue? again I don't know..... is the risk part of the job????

Answer 2

It's nice to see the Defence Budget being spent on something useful.
What would you do if they cannot pay their repatriation costs - leave them there?
I am just so sorry for all the other foreign nationals, and Lebanese who can't get to safety - I would like the British Taxpayer to help them as well.
P.S. I am a British Taxpayer

Answer 3

On the one hand, it's a war zone and they're our citizens; on the other, if they're working there then their company will be paying them a hefty sum and surely should have some kind of procedure as the middle east isn't exactly stable, and if they're on holiday, then I'd imagine foreign office advice was against it, so they've only themselves to blame.

I guess I'm saying that people should be got out, but if a company's sending people to a unstable area, then they should be the ones responsible for their safety; and if you are going to travel (assuming foreign office advice was against it) then it should be your responsibility for yourself.

Answer 4

Firstly I have to ask what are all these people doing in Lebanon, apart from those making loads of money who are the rest, surely not holiday makers. I think I will take my next holiday in Bagdad, and if there is trouble, the government will get me out, I think not.

Answer 5

Good question. On one hand I guess it's a case of looking after your own in a dreadful situation. On the other hand it seems somewhat ironic to expect those actually working and living in the UK to subsidise those UK citizens who've chosen to live elsewhere. I guess it really depends upon the motivation behind each of those UK citizens for being there in the first place. Lots may have been on Holiday, others on work contracts. I doubt many of them would actually have chosen to settle there.

Answer 6

Of course we should, stop being so petty and selfish, after all we've just wasted billions on a House Sellers Pack that's not going ahead and no-one's whinging about that. At least this will help people.

Answer 7

I had a 24 hour emergency evacuation card when I was working in the middle east. This was paid for by the corporation I worked for.

Answer 8

Why not? We pay for Cherie Blairs haircuts, for Tony's new shoes, for their kids to go to Eton and Cambridge, for some families to be on the dole all their lives, for prisons to have playstations... you know what, if I didn't pay so much taxes I wouldn't be living like this!

Answer 9

It could be you and you would be repatriated just like them in lebanon.

Answer 10

Yes of course we should, i think that you will find that insurance policies exclude repratiation in the case of war