New law to demand payment for rescues in 'dangerous' countries.

7:12 AM Fri 31 Jul 2009 GMT

'Le Ponant from a helicopter - 30 crew freed by French commandos' .

If a new French law gains currency around the world, all cruising sailors who visit countries which are on a list of countries 'considered to be dangerous' could be faced with a bill if they get into trouble.

Bernard Kouchner, France's Foreign Minister has introduced a law enabling officials to take legal action against kidnap victims deemed to have ignored official advice against travelling to dangerous places.

Regions considered dangerous are published on the Foreign Ministry website in a regularly updated list. French travellers are at present advised against visiting countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen and parts of Peru, Tanzania, Colombia, Sudan and Venezuela.

While each nation has its own list of countries officially on a warning list, long range cruising sailors visit many of these countries as a matter of course as they are on the normal cruising routes, and some of them are almost impossible to avoid; eg. Indonesia if you wish to reach Thailand; the Sudan and Egypt if you go up the Red Sea; and Colombian and Venezuelan waters are one of the typical routes used by cruising sailors on their way to the Panama Canal.

The legislation follows criticism over the burden to taxpayers from missions to free such hostages as the 30 sailors who were crew on the hijacked yacht le Ponant, and the hostages on the smaller French yacht Tanit from which four of five crew were rescued, except for the skipper Florent Lemacon who was killed in the crossfire.

Switzerland and Germany already have similar laws, enabling Berlin to recover ?12,600 from a hostage in Colombia.

"If people get themselves into difficulty and the State has to intervene, putting the lives of its own agents in danger, then it is legitimate in principle to be able to recover the money," a French Foreign Ministry spokesman told The Times. "This is meant to be dissuasive. We're concerned about public finances but we're more concerned about the safety of French citizens."

Under the legislation, submitted to the Cabinet this month, the State will be entitled to recover "all or part of the expenses ... for rescue operations abroad for people who have deliberately exposed themselves to risks which they could not ignore".

The authorities will also be able to take action against travel agents, shipping companies and insurance companies accused of encouraging journeys to areas deemed hazardous.

by Nancy Knudsen

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New law to demand payment for rescues in 'dangerous' countries.

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