In this article we discuss how to avoid being kidnapped on business travel.
Just in case you missed it, last weeks article focussed on how to avoid being kidnapped at home, and its available here.
If you work for a company that regularly sends you to far-flung and interesting places, you should ask them what high risk environment training they will provide you.
There are a surprising number of resources about this online, including from the FBI, and the National Crime Agency in the UK.
It is unlikely that your company or organisation will give you specialist training if you are only going for a couple of days, and you don’t go there very often. However, the more trips or the more travel days in country means you have more exposure. There will therefore be a trade-off to be made on when it is worth doing additional high risk environment training. Depending on your organisation, your training might only be for an hour online. Or it might be an immersive face to face week that will cover a lot more topics.
How to avoid being kidnapped on business travel.
Clearly, to avoid the risk exposure in the first place, ask yourself, do you need to go? Does it need five of you to travel to that remote area? Do you really need to go for two weeks? In terms of overall risk, one of you going for three days, is better that five of you for much longer.
If you decide that you do have to go, then the number one piece of advice is to be aware of the threat. Simply by reading this you are a long way ahead. Next, you need to understand the local environment. Where are the safe areas for you to go to? Which places should you definitely avoid?
The second major piece of advice is to manage your own behaviours. Don’t do stupid things like visit shady bars, in dodgy parts of town. I wouldn’t say it if I hadn’t had to respond to it multiple times, but if you are going to indulge in prostitution or recreational drugs, whilst abroad for business travel, you are asking for trouble.
You can be more subtle with your mitigations too. In some places, things like avoiding walking by day or night, minimising driving at night, using reputable taxi firms, or hotel booked transport are easy wins.
‘If you are a juicy gazelle, stay away from the plain at feeding time if you don’t need to be there.’
What can you do before you travel?
It is important during the planning phase, and while you are travelling, to keep your perspective. Remember the vast majority of kidnaps for ransom happen to local nationals and not to foreign business travellers visiting the developing world. Don’t let worry or concern overwhelm you but do keep a healthy dose of chronic unease.
Be aware of the environment that you are going to. Is it a high crime environment? Is express kidnapping common? What about the part of town where you have been invited to dinner. Is it safe?
If you are meeting a local business partner, are they new, or is it a trusted relationship? Are you delivering unwelcome news to your in-country team when you go there? Is there an insider threat as a result? There are so many things to consider, it is definitely worth understanding the threat.
Depending on your risk exposure to kidnap, do a bit of personal housekeeping before you go. Leave most of your bank cards at home. Empty out your bag or wallet of anything that you don’t really need to travel with.
Take a photo of your passport and your visa if needed and email them to yourself.
Delete all the main banking and social media apps off your phone temporarily. You can always put them back on again when you get home. Even better, travel with a burner phone, and leave your personal digital footprint completely behind.
Preparation is important – It’s also the bit that you own personally!
Make sure someone knows your itinerary. Where will you be going, when will you be back. It’s a great idea to check in with someone in your team before and after any major road journeys, or even just to say that you have checked in to your hotel for the night. Of course, that person needs to be proactive if you haven’t called when you said you would. They also need to know what the escalation procedure is.
Consider all the usual things around your personal appearance and wealth. Remember, the lion takes the target that looks both juicy and weak. Avoid the bling and keep your awareness up when out in public and hopefully you will never even know that the lion was watching.
That carries across to the virtual domain as well. Think carefully how much you put on social media before and during your trip and what your privacy settings are.
And finally, if the abduction is already happening, and you have lost your window for escape, then you are already a victim. Don’t resist, you will just get hurt. You are going to have to go with it until help arrives.
In next weeks article we will discuss what you need to do to survive if you are kidnapped.
And that is how to avoid being kidnapped on business travel! This article is an excerpt of How To Deliver A Ransom, by Rob Phayre.
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