The Egypt Evacuations Secret

Unnecessary! Despite the wide spread acceptance that due to the evolving situati
on in Egypt, evacuations are the order of the day, evacuations are largely unnec
essary and add to a continuous disturbing trend. Very rarely do citizens need to
be evacuated.
Yes, there have been demonstrations, pockets of violence, military and police in
tervention and government condemnation but this does not warrant wide evacuation
s for any group/s. Buildings are still standing, the entire city is not without
power, water and bodies are not piling up on the streets due to mass violence by
the second. Consider the reasons for evacuation, the true motivations of evacuee
s and compare them with other recent calamities.
Imagine sitting quietly in a public area when multiple people run past screaming
and wailing. Even though you see no danger or reason for the behaviour you are
unlikely to sit and take your chances. Most likely you are going to join the mel
ee. Sympathetic evacuations occur all the time. A single group (largely uniforme
d, scared, low tolerance or spurred on by other agitators) will make a dash for
the nearest port or means of escape. Their actions are observed, broadcast or si
mply spread throughout other communities such as travellers and expatriates. Not
long after, this group is joined by another group, and another and yet another.
Soon you have everyone calling for evacuation even though they don’t really know
for what reason. Any and all negative events that occur in the course of this sc
ramble (such as being stopped at a police checkpoint) only reinforces of validat
es “need” for evacuation in everyone’s mind.
In recent weeks we have seen a terrorist attack at a major international airport
in Russia. Was there a large scale international evacuation required? A series
of natural disasters has seen Australia suffer some of the worst flooding, storm
s and even fires in a short period. Did any developed nation fly in with governm
ent chartered aircraft or military planes to evacuate their citizens? India and
the Philippines have suffered severe snow storms and a fire that guttered hundre
ds of homes respectively. Again, any mass evacuations? The consistency and offer
ing for evacuations is getting even more confusing as governments seek to atone
for past mistakes and chase votes with “popular” support operations.
Governments have been motivated by past failures and almost complete risk avoida
nce for political reasons. I have already commented in a previous article as to
the value of government travel advisories and warnings which continue to display
such risk avoidance and lack of relevance to the majority of travellers. Travel
lers on the other hand, have been motivated largely by the offering of a “free” retu
rn flight. There have been legitimate threats to individuals and small groups bu
t far less than the thousands that have been evacuated so far. Many of whom will
be back to Egypt in the not to distant future. Everyone loves a good adventure
story to share from a recent holiday but it doesn’t mean the adventure was truly n
ecessary or avoidable.
The vision and stories coming from Egypt have been akin to looking through a key
hole. Only a small geographical area has been affected, the entire country has n
ot collapsed, infrastructure remains in tact and Egyptians are not seeking venge
ance against any and all foreigners. The interpretation and processing of visual
s and reports on Egypt have been over dramatized. Remember the events that have
lead to the evacuation of thousands from Egypt. Similar “templates” will be applied
to an increasing amount of situations in the coming months and years. It does no
t mean they are necessary. Business travellers and travel managers beware. Expec
tations have been set and evacuation demands are but a phone call away. Many fal
se positives will be the result but regrettably there will still be situations t
hat result in failure to respond when there is a very real need to intervene for
the sake of life safety and security of citizens abroad because the current app
lication of support is far from consistent or predictable on all sides.