Interview with Emily Makely, Vice Consul at the US embassy in Tirana
In the last few months, it seems like countries all over the world are coping with crises. Were there any special measures taken by the State Department?
– It has been an extremely busy few months for those of us who work with Overseas Citizen Services. In just April alone, the State Department has issued Travel Warnings for ten countries. This past February, I was in Cairo assisting Americans during the political unrest. Here in Albania, we are at risk for natural disasters such as earthquakes and flooding.
How can the American Embassy in Tirana help expats during a natural disaster or other dangerous situation?
– The actions that the State Department takes during a crisis depend on the nature of the crisis. Sometimes, we’ll send warden messages or other updates to let American citizens know about potential dangers or areas to avoid, or we’ll advise about where they can seek assistance. We sent these types of messages to American Citizens during the flooding in the North last fall. In more widespread situations, such as the earthquake in Haiti, we may recommend that Americans leave the country, and if sufficient commercial transportation isn’t available, will we provide departure assistance if resources permit.
If the State Department organizes an evacuation, would the Embassy provide free transportation to the United States?
– US Consulates only organize evacuation assistance if the local infrastructure is severely damaged or compromised. So if there’s a crisis and American citizens are ready to leave and can do so by commercial transport, that’s certainly the best option. If the Embassy organizes an evacuation, we arrange transport only so far as a safe-haven country, and from there you’re responsible for making your own onward arrangements. For example, when we ran the evacuation out of Cairo, evacuees were generally sent to Cyprus, Athens, or Istanbul. Evacuees from Libya were sent to Malta; evacuees from Haiti mostly went to the Dominican Republic. It’s also important to remember that evacuation costs are ultimately the responsibility of the evacuee; they will be asked to sign a form promising to repay the cost of transport (full coach fare) to the U.S. government.
How can Americans overseas prepare for a crisis?
– Of course, everyone should have an emergency plan for the types of crises that they are most likely to face in the country that they are in. Additionally, it’s very important that they keep their travel documents up to date. In Cairo, I was surprised at the number of Americans who had let their passports expire or who hadn’t applied for American Citizenship for their children. Instead of going to the airport to fly out on one of our evacuation flights, they were at the embassy applying for emergency passports. During a crisis, the last thing you want to worry about is filling out a passport application or gathering together the documents that need to transmit citizenship to your child. American citizens should not procrastinate with these important tasks, because none of us can control when the next natural disaster might occur.
In addition to keeping their travel documents up to date, we strongly encourage American citizens to enroll in our Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). In the Embassy, we meet regularly to discuss emergency planning, and we monitor how many citizens are in which regions of the country. Enrollment in the program lets us know that American Citizens are in the country and we can take them into account in our planning as well as include them when disseminating information. During a crisis, communications networks are often flooded or unavailable, so they should enroll beforehand. More information about enrollment in STEP and crisis services can be found by going to travel.state.gov and clicking on the “Our role in a crisis” link.
