Brits getting more unruly, says FCO

Foreign Office figures released today reveal that Brits abroad seem to be getting into more serious trouble than ever.

In a bid to warn tourists of the importance of taking out adequate travel insurance, the stats show that 2,032 British nationals were arrested in Spain in the year ending March 2007, a 33 per cent increase on the previous 12 months and more than in any other foreign country although the rise is partly due to the increase in British visitors to the country.

Drunken behaviour, ignorance of local laws and lack of respect in non-secular countries is contributing to the culture that is seeing more Brits are arrested and charged whilst on holiday.

The highest proportion off arrests took place in Cyprus where 377 people out of 1.5 million British visitors and residents fell foul of the law. The next most likely place to be arrested is the US – some 1415 people out of 7m Brits were collared in the period. The UAE arrested the third highest amount of Brits (230 out of 1.1 million) and this was largely due to the country’s zero drugs tolerance policy that caught out holders in transit.

The stats are based on the number of assistance requests made to British embassies abroad and Indonesia showed a high rate of serious assistance cases considering its low visitor and resident numbers from Britain with 10.05 requests for every 1000 Brits. Pakistan, at 1.95, and India at 1.37, followed.

The most cases of rape were reported in Spain and Greece (29 and 28 respectively) followed by Turkey (21). The highest number of hospitalisations happened in Spain (695), then Greece (602) and then Thailand (324). The latter saw 269 deaths out of 0.86 million British visitors and residents which the FCO explained as down to the country having the world’s highest road traffic accident rates with most of the hospital admissions the result of motorbike accidents, particularly in the southern islands.

Foreign Office Minister Meg Munn said: “This report highlights what can go wrong on holiday. It is a reminder to all that taking out comprehensive travel insurance is a crucial part of your holiday planning and not something that should be sacrificed to save a few pounds.

“Helping British nationals in distress overseas is one of our most important tasks but many of the problems faced by holidaymakers are preventable. By carrying out some simple research on the laws, customs and health requirements of a country in advance, many people could prevent their holidays being ruined.”

By Dinah Hatch