French hostages and their Somali captors aboard the yacht Tanit last year. The hostages were subsequently rescued by the French navy.
French legislators are sick of the government picking up the tab whenever French tourists run into avoidable trouble overseas. Now, the National Assembly is considering a bill that could leave careless citizens picking up the tab, according to the Guardian.
The inspiration for the legislation: last year's French yacht trips off the East African coast that Somali pirates viewed as an open invitation to come aboard, take hostages, and demand ransoms. The French navy ended up on several costly rescue missions, including one that led to the death of a French hostage.
Now, the government wants globetrotting citizens who need rescuing from holidays in known troublespots to pay up.
Some are criticizing the legislation, accusing the government of abdicating its responsibilities. But the French foreign minister disagrees. "We always intervene at the far ends of the planet in order to save our compatriots," Bernard Kouchner told the National Assembly. The French Senate passed the bill last month.
Americans in similar circumstances sometimes have to pay. In 2006, thousands of U.S. citizens rescued after a bombing in Beirut, Lebanon were surprised to hear the government planned to bill them for their rescues. Eventually, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice waived the fees that would have come due.
Abby Sunderland, the 16-year-old sailor who was recently plucked from the Indian Ocean after her around-the-world voyage ran amok, likely won't have to pay for the bulk of her rescue. Although her vessel ran into trouble in international waters, it drifted into the Australian search-and-rescue area, according to World News Australia. The Australian government paid for expenses like chartering a jet to search for Sunderland.
The other government with a major role in the search: the French.
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