WIXLIB

CONSULARSNAPSHOT2017/18ERSEASERS OVDNALAEZWENOUR HELP FOR1

On any given day, more than 100,000 New Zealanders are outof the country on holidays, business travel or other short-termtrips. That number is growing rapidly. In 2017 New Zealandresidents took a record 2.9 million trips overseas, which was9.3 percent more than in 2016.More than a million of those trips were to Australia. The next most popular destinations for travellingNew Zealanders in 2017-2018 were the United States, Fiji, China and the United Kingdom.There is also a large New Zealand diaspora. While estimates vary, as many as one million New Zealandersare believed to live overseas.Most New Zealanders encounter few serious problems travelling or living overseas. However, thingscan – and do – go wrong. In the 2017/18 year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s offshore posts(Embassies, High Commissions and Consulates) received 34,842 inquiries from travelling New Zealanders,and opened 2,253 new consular cases. We open a consular case when Ministry staff provide consularassistance to a New Zealander.Ministry staff also responded to 34 offshore emergencies in 2017/18, ranging from natural disasters(such as Hurricanes Irma and Maria in the Caribbean, Tropical Cyclone Gita in the Pacific, earthquakes inMexico and Indonesia, and volcanoes in Hawaii, Vanuatu and the Philippines), to terrorist or mass casualtyincidents (including those in Barcelona, Las Vegas, Toronto and London).WHAT IS CONSULAR ASSISTANCE?Consular assistance is help provided by the New Zealand government to a New Zealander travelling orliving overseas. It can range from helping people who have been victims of crime, to assisting people indetention, to providing advice to families of New Zealanders who have died in another country.The Ministry’s staff provide consular assistance to New Zealand citizens who are travelling on a NewZealand passport. The New Zealand government does not usually provide consular assistance to: New Zealanders who are also citizens of another country (“dual nationals”), and who are travelling on aforeign passport New Zealanders who are also citizens of another country, and who ask for help while living in or visitingthat other country People who are permanent residents of New Zealand, but who are not New Zealand citizens.Permanent residents are assisted by consular officials from their country of citizenship.Consular cases vary greatly in their complexity and how long they take to resolve. Some are resolved in 20minutes, while others can last months or years.The statistics in this snapshot reflect the consular cases managed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs andTrade from 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2018.2

WHERE DID NEW ZEALANDERS TRAVEL IN OK IS104,48065,140(Source: Statistics NZ)WE HAVE THREE MAIN MESSAGES FORTRAVELLING NEW ZEALANDERS:1CHECK OUR TRAVEL ADVICE2TAKE OUT APPROPRIATE TRAVELINSURANCE3REGISTER YOUR TRAVEL DETAILSON SAFETRAVEL3

1CHECK OUR TRAVEL ADVICE2TAKE OUT APPROPRIATETRAVEL INSURANCEThe Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade producesWe strongly advise New Zealanders to getthe New Zealand government’s official travel advice,comprehensive travel insurance before headingwhich is published on our SafeTravel website,away. We say: “If you can’t afford travel insurance,www.safetravel.govt.nz.you can’t afford to travel”.In the 2017/18 year we published advisories forInsurance is essential for every trip, wherever128 destinations around the world. We also issuedpeople are going. Travellers need to make sure that60 news features, providing information aboutit covers everywhere they are going, and everythingdeveloping events (such as a cyclone brewing) orthey plan to do.global issues (like communicable diseases).People sometimes think they don’t need insuranceOur advice covers security and safety concerns inbecause they are just hopping across the Tasman,many destinations. It is based on information fromor they will be going on a cruise and they assumea number of sources. It reflects potential risks, andthat the cruise company will look after them. Orour assessment of what these might mean for Newthey might think they won’t bother with insuranceZealanders. Our assessment may also take intobecause they are just heading up to the Pacificaccount actions of local authorities, and our abilityIslands for a week. But all it takes is a scooterto provide New Zealanders with assistance.accident, or for a coral cut to turn bad, and theyThe advice is designed to help New Zealanders makeinformed decisions about travel destinations. Wecan find themselves having to be flown back to NewZealand at a cost of many of thousands of dollars.cannot tell New Zealanders what to do, but their travelIn one recent case, an uninsured Kiwi cruise shipinsurance may be affected by a strong travel warningpassenger became critically ill and ultimately had to payor the level of our travel advice (particularly if we 60,000 in bills, including the cost of a medical escortadvise against all travel to a destination). We do notto accompany him on the flight home. There are manyprovide advice on all destinations. We focus on thoseother recent cases of whānau and friends setting upabout which we have reliable information on securityGivealittle pages to fund the medical or medevac costsand safety concerns that may affect New Zealanders.of people who are uninsured, or who are not coveredThe SafeTravel website had 1.4 million views indue to an exclusion in the insurance policy.2017/18. Our most frequently visited page providedNew Zealanders who do not have travelinformation on the Zika virus. We also regularlyinsurance have to pay any overseas medical costsshare updates on our Facebook page, which hasthemselves, including the potentially high costsaround 10,000 followers.involved in returning to New Zealand.SafeTravel has a wide range of tips to help ensureMFAT and Consumer magazine recently produced asafety when travelling in foreign countries, what totravel insurance guide which helps people navigatedo if things go wrong, and how the New Zealandtravel insurance issues (www.consumer.org.nz/government can help if you are in trouble.topics/travel-insurance-guide). This providesinformation on policy types, insurance coverage,personal liability and how to make a successfulclaim if you get into difficulty while travelling.4

3REGISTER YOUR TRAVEL DETAILS ON SAFETRAVELNew Zealanders heading overseas are encouragedNew Zealanders were registered as being in Indonesia,to register their travel details on SafeTravel.with nine registered as being in Lombok. New ZealandRegistering means we can immediately contactconsular staff immediately tracked down those ninepeople and check on their wellbeing if there is apeople and contacted them about the situation.major incident overseas. We can provide updatesabout emergencies, natural disasters, or terroristattacks. We can also use information to contactpeople if they need consular assistance. SafeTravelregistration is voluntary and all information providedremains confidential.As is always the case with serious events, many morepeople registered on SafeTravel in the hours after theearthquake. We ultimately received enquiries about70 affected New Zealanders. MFAT staff in Indonesiaand Wellington worked hard to track them all down,and to liaise with their families back in New Zealand.Our response to the Lombok earthquake of 5 AugustWe also deployed consular staff to the area to help2018 is a good example of how we use SafeTravelwith their departures from Indonesia.information. At the time of the earthquake, 447REGISTERING ON SAFETRAVEL CAN SAVE LIVESOne recent example involved a New Zealander who hadtravelled overseas to meet a woman he had met online.Unfortunately, he was the victim of a scam which sawhim lose tens of thousands of dollars. The man was soupset about what had happened that he left a messagefor his family saying that he was going to take his ownlife. The family contacted MFAT and asked us to help.While they did not know the man’s whereabouts, theman had entered his hotel details on SafeTravel,which allowed us to locate him and put him incontact with life-saving help.5

CONSULAR CASE BREAKDOWNMost travelling New Zealanders never need consular assistance. Some choose not to contact New Zealandposts offshore even if they do get into difficulty. The following tables summarise the times where NewZealanders have sought assistance and we have established a new consular case.CASE TYPENO. OF CASESNO. OF CASESNO. OF CASESNO. OF CASESNO. OF 30202431Adoption62485Behavioural Issues/Concerns383734292Child Custody2529391639Civil Unrest1551413Civil/Employment Disputes1524142Damaged Passport111012141Death182186159170165Domestic Incident19161925Expired l Distress10590897075International Surrogacy417106Invigilation55561Law Infringement215201158122159Local Immigration Difficulties228200215139180Lost ng Person5842373465Natural Disaster23281511Notarial Problems1214151Other86786132193Personal Safety Concerns535241514Scam913101319Terrorist Attack5152Threat Warning126Victim of Crime191264321288Welfare of Minors7859Witness Marriage2134122532224229319801905GRAND TOTAL6229

WHERE CONSULAR CASES HAPPENED 2017/18339 250AUSTRALIA151 115 11284 72 66 66 62USAUKTHAILANDCHINACOOK IS.GERMANYINDONESIA UNITED ARABEMIRITESITALYTIME SPENT ON CONSULAR CASES ONESIA(339 NEW CASES)(112 NEW CASES)(114 NEW CASES)(250 NEW CASES)(66 NEW URSSPENT206HOURSSPENTINDIAUKVIET NAMITALYBRAZIL(36 NEW CASES)(151 NEW CASES)(55 NEW CASES)(62 NEW CASES)(12 NEW CASES)OUR BUSIEST POSTS 2017/18Many of New Zealand’s Embassies and High Commissions are accredited to more than one country, whichmeans consular staff will work across borders to help New Zealanders in difficulty. For example, our postin Bangkok looks after Cambodia and Laos as well as Thailand.BANGKOK130 NEW CASESCANBERRA160 NEW CASESROME105 NEW CASESNEW DELHI39 NEW CASESJAKARTALONDONGUANGZHOULOS ANGELESCHENGDUWASHINGTON66 NEW CASES160 NEW CASES19 NEW CASES118 NEW HRS7 NEW CASES209HRS110 NEW CASES206HRS7

MEDICAL CASES OVERSEASIn 2017/18 we provided consular assistance to New Zealanders in need of medical help or their families in209 cases. This was a 17 percent increase on the 2016/17 year.17117 10UKCHINA10ITALYFRANCEVIET AUSTRALIADEATHS OVERSEASWhen a New Zealander dies overseas, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade can help families by: providing local advice, including whether burial or cremation are possible in the country where theperson has died, or how to go about the process of repatriation of remains or ashes to New Zealand advising on approximate costs of the options available providing contact details for local funeral directors who can manage the funeral or repatriationarrangements in consultation with the familyIn 2017/18, we provided consular assistance in 182 new cases involving the deaths of New Zealanders overseas.AUSTRALIANO. OF NEW DEATH LIPPINES6VIET NAM5COOK ISLANDS5INDONESIA