In July 2006, I visited Beirut/Lebanon. Unfortunately exactly at the time, when the last Israeli-Lebanese war started.

Being a Westerner, my last hope was “my” embassy, thinking they might be able to help out.

German Embassy:

• Their phone was either busy or no-one answered.
• After 100s of tries some lady showed mercy and picked up the phone. She also didn´t know what´s the right thing to do, especially since her daughter came to visit the day before the war broke out… I wasn´t entirely sure if I´m talking to Embassy personnel trained for emergencies, or someone from the Muppet Show.
• She did write down my details, saying I´d be called back once the embassy finds out any specifics.
• Relatives in Germany called the “Ministry of Foreign Affairs” in Berlin and were told the same thing: The details would be noted, and we shall receive a call back soon…
• Every later enquiry always yielded the same reply: “We will call you back once we know”… Interestingly they never confirmed that we are on that list of people that would be contacted: Everyone´s details were administered on paper, hence it would be impossible to quickly check if someone is on that list or not.
• No-one ever called. Not me, not my relatives.
• Ever since I suspect that the “electronic registration system for Germans abroad” >>Elefand<< was triggered through the numerous following complaints?!

Belgian Embassy:

• Call to Belgian Embassy, fist attempt: “We are in the process of organising an evacuation. We will call you once we know exactly. Give us your details, so we can call you back.”
• Relatives in Belgium call the “centre de crise” in Brussels. Only from my family name, the employee in Brussels(!) saw my data, which I gave to the Embassy in Beirut(!) just 5 minutes earlier. “There is no need for double-registration, we will do what we can.”
• 24 hours later: The Embassy calls me: “We will evacuate with buses, please be in Hamra-Street tomorrow morning at 07h00”
• 10 Minutes later my relatives in Belgium were informed about the same thing. The “centre de crise” also informed them that they will get additional news once we cross the border into “safe” Syria.
• That´s exactly what happened: We reconstructed that the “centre de crise” called my relatives in Belgium ~ 30 mins after our bus crossed the border. “Your loved ones are now in safe Syria, we will -again- let you know once they reach Damascus.” What a relief for those at home!

The bus convoy itself:

Some European Embassies organised said convoy of buses, to evacuate their citizens. All were ready to go, with an exception for the German bus: Because of some German law, every German citizen had to pay EUR 50 at the point of departure in Beirut, to make sure that the German state won´t incur losses through the evacuation. One rather extended German family had nothing with them, because (they claimed) their house was bombed the day before. Whatever the reason, they didn´t pay, and the drama lasted from 07h00 until 11h30. At that time employees of other embassies intervened: “Look, we´re all ready to go. If this was a technical problem with the bus, we´d understand and wait. But waiting for bureaucratic reasons, in such a precarious situation, is unacceptable. We´ll go now, and hope you´ll join us…” Suddenly it all worked out, and we started moving.

“Service” in Damascus

As I found out later, the German Embassy “dropped” their citizens at the airport in Damascus, wishing them all the best.

All flights and hotels were booked out, so some unlucky folks had to sleep in the airport´s parking lot.

The Belgian Ambassador to Damascus knew a priest of a local church, and asked him if he would provide the church as a temporary shelter in this extreme case. So a funny mix of Belgians remained in the church until everyone found a flight home, or some other accommodation. The Embassy also helped in organising these alternatives.

Last but not least I tried to inform the German authorities that I won´t need help from now, since I´m already safely out of Lebanon. As they couldn´t find me on their paper-based records(that´s how I found out about this), they couldn´t scratch me from the list. Nevertheless I never received any further feedback.