When You Arrive

• Register at your nearest Embassy – to facilitate your family contacting you in an emergency, for you to be evacuated in an emergency, for you to obtain a new passport should yours be lost or stolen. Also, you can obtain updated information on the security situation. If you are ill or injured, the embassy can provide you with a list of medical facilities, or a consular officer can help you find assistance. The consul can help transfer funds from your home. They cannot get you out of jail, but they can assist you to get legal advice and visit you, advising you of your rights under local law, and ensuring that you are held under humane conditions and treated fairly.
• Legal systems vary widely – take particular notice of laws related to driving or traffic violations. Check out the local police customs with your host, hostess or sponsoring institution as soon as you arrive.
• Ask for safety tips from your hosts.
• Give strangers the address of your place of work, rather than the place where you live or your homeland address.
  

• Walking is a rewarding way to see a city, but may be unsafe. Pair up. Stick to streets with lots of people, especially in the evenings.
• Use common sense – be especially cautious in or avoid crowded subways, train stations, elevators, tourist sites, market places, festivals, and marginal areas of cities.
• Don’t use short cuts, narrow alleys, poorly-lit streets. Do not travel alone at night.
• Avoid public demonstrations and other civil disturbances.
• If you feel you are being followed, slip into the nearest building where you see people.
• Keep a low profile. If you sense that others recognize you as a stranger, avoid eye contact.
• Avoid loud conversations or arguments.
• Do not discuss travel plans or other personal matters with strangers.
• Beware of strangers who approach you, offering bargains or to be your guide.
• Beware of pickpockets. They often have an accomplice who will jostle you, ask you for directions or the time, or distract you by creating a disturbance. A child or even a woman carrying a baby can be a pickpocket. Groups of children may create a distraction while picking your pocket.
• Wear the shoulder strap of your bag across your chest and walk with the bag away from the curb to avoid drive-by purse snatchers.
• Try to appear purposeful when you move about. Even if lost, act as if you know where you are going. When possible, ask directions only from authorities.
• Know how to use a pay telephone and have the proper change or token on hand.
• Learn a few phrases in the local language so you can ask for help, the police, or a doctor. Make a note of emergency telephone numbers: police, fire, your hotel, your nearest embassy or consulate.
• If you are confronted, don’t fight back. Give up your valuables. Your money and passport can be replaced, but you cannot.