For many young people going on a 'Gap-Year'...the lure of a world of adventure makes for heady excitement that leaves little room for mundane matters, such as insurance, customs law or document security.
A world of adventure awaits many thousands of students following the yearly A-level results...some heading straight to University, others seeking employment. Many, however, will put their plans on hold to spend a gap year travelling abroad. In recent years this trend has become a rite of passage for young people seeking to expand their horizons. All walks of life, including the most privileged, have been willing to sometimes 'slum-it' before going to University or embarking on their chosen future career.
Even Prince William travelled to South America on a Charity Project before going to University, whilst Prince Harry travelled to Lesotho, Australia and Argentina before beginning his Military Training at Sandhurst.
It is thought that around 25,000 young people from the UK take gap years each year...but, in some cases the planned voyage of discovery can be fraught with danger. Also, confusion for many who have rarely spent time away from home let alone thousands of miles away in unfamiliar cultures. Some have fallen victim to dangerous criminals, thieves or fall victim to suspicious fatal accidents! The Foreign Office has stated that around 25% of gap year travellers are likely to suffer a bad experience...every parents worst nightmare.
Lost Abroad: The Parents' Story...This film looks at two families *Erica Duggan and Bill Hawker in two very different accounts of their struggles to find out what happened to their loved-ones...we see examples of the inhumanity of those that block their quest for Justice. What it is like to be in a Foreign State, trying to get a proper Police investigation? What family would not want to know who and what killed their child?...
www.channel4.com/programmes/lost-abroad-the-parents-story/episode-guide/series-1/episode-1
*Please Support Erica Duggan: www.justiceforjeremiah.com
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If you need information from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office go to: www.fco.gov.uk
Or...if you need to get in touch with a British Consulate when you are Overseas, you can send an e-mail to consular.services@fco.gov.uk
CRIME VICTIMS IN EUROPE...26th August, 2011 Crime Victims Abroad to get extra protection: www.justice.gov.uk/news/press-releases/moj/pressrelease260811a.htm
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THE VOICE OF PETAR SUTOVIC CAMPAIGN - www.petarsutovic.co.uk
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A man arrested and questioned by detectives in connection with the murder of two French students, who it is believed were tortured for their bank details. Laurent Bonomo and Gabriel Ferez, both 23, were found gagged, tied to chairs, stabbed 243 times in the head, chest and back and finally set on fire in a flat in New Cross, South East London.
Tuesday, 15th July, 2008 Tory MP for Eastbourne slammed the Foreign Office (FCO) over death response...Nigel Waterson MP said the FCO showed a "lack of understanding and support" to parents of a young woman found dead in suspicious circumstances in Argentina.
During a Westminster debate Mr Waterson said Mr. & Mrs Hill had originally been told that their daughter Laura, a 25 year old dental nurse, had been found dead on a Park Bench in Beunos Aires. Verdict of cause of death 'natural causes'. However, a 'contradictory' autopsy report in November revealed that Miss Hill had been found in the first floor hallway of an apartment building. Nigel Waterson MP also said "She had suffered extensive bruising on various parts of her body". Organs were missing when Laura was returned, and Mr Waterson further criticised consular officials..."Even though the report strongly suggested that Laura did not die from natural causes, as far as I am aware the Foreigh Office did nothing to press for a more thorough investigation".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sussex/7508511.stm
Fiona McKeown, the mother of 15-year old Scarlett Keeling who was murdered in Goa February, 2008 spoke to the press recently outside the Foreign & Commonwealth Office after meeting Foreign Office Minister Lord Malloch-Brown to get an update on the investigation into her daughter's death.
A further tragedy struck the family following Scarlett's killing when her Stepdad hit the bottle...admitting he would "drink himself to death!" He was pronounced dead by paramedics at his flat in Torquay on Monday, 12th April, 2010...all too often the legacy within a family, a terrible 'knock-on' ripple effect of homicide which takes it's toll on the family dynamics, destroying normal family life...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/7289679.stm
Meredith Kercher, 21 from Coulsdon, South London was found with her throat cut in November, 2007 in a Flat in Italy. She had been on a study year in Italy as part of the Erasmus Programme...a spokesman for Leeds University where Miss Kercher was a student said: "The whole [Italian] department are in shock that such a terrible thing should have happened. We will remember Meredith as a beautiful, clever and happy young woman, who was serious about her studies and popular with her peers."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7082281.stm
A spate of fatal 'Knife Attacks' in the UK...has sparked a debate about Youth Violence and Gang culture in the Country. But, is the UK's experience mirrored in other Nations? BBC Correspondents compare the situation around the World!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7508418.stm
Fatal Knife Attacks in Canada...The number of Homicides committed with 'Knives' has risen in Canada and equals the number committed with 'Guns' for the first time since 1974: www.cbc.ca/canada/windsor/story/2010/04/27/statscan-knifing-report.html
Fatal Knife Attacks In China...13 Students wounded in pre-dawn Knife rampage at Chinese University: www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article7131621.ece
E. & O. E.