Travellers using drugs risk jail, warns campaign
The UK’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO), in conjunction with the charity Prisoners Abroad, has launched a campaign to highlight the consequences of the use, possession and smuggling of drugs in countries around the world. More than 850 British nationals are currently locked up in prisons across the globe for drug-related offences, said the FCO, often being detained for months without trial and facing distressing living conditions. The zero-tolerance approach of some countries often results in strict penalties, which can come as a shock to British travellers, and offences that may carry cautions in the UK are often penalised with long prison sentences when committed overseas, the FCO advised. Some drug crimes can lead to even more severe penalties, and in 33 countries or territories some drug offences carry the death sentence, according to the Foreign Office.
The UK’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO), in conjunction with the charity Prisoners Abroad, has launched a campaign to highlight the consequences of the use, possession and smuggling of drugs in countries around the world. More than 850 British nationals are currently locked up in prisons across the globe for drug-related offences, said the FCO, often being detained for months without trial and facing distressing living conditions. The zero-tolerance approach of some countries often results in strict penalties, which can come as a shock to British travellers, and offences that may carry cautions in the UK are often penalised with long prison sentences when committed overseas, the FCO advised. Some drug crimes can lead to even more severe penalties, and in 33 countries or territories some drug offences carry the death sentence, according to the Foreign Office.
Some nations keep people on remand for years before their case is heard, and Prisoners Abroad is currently supporting 80 Brits between the ages of 18 and 30 held in foreign countries for drugs offences – two-thirds of these are still awaiting trial while others are serving sentences from a year to nearly 39 years.
As part of the campaign, the FCO has reissued its Too late now information film about the risks of drug trafficking, originally released in 2011. In the video, two British nationals who spent years in prisons overseas describe their experiences and warn others not to repeat their mistakes.
Mark Simmonds, UK minister for consular affairs, commented: “People continue to be astonished at some of the penalties handed down for certain crimes overseas. In some countries, possessing small amounts of marijuana can lead to decades in prison. In the last year alone, [British] consular staff handled over 650 drug-related cases. We want to reduce this number significantly.” He added: “Laws, penalties and sentences vary considerably around the world for the use, possession and trafficking of all types of drugs. When it comes to drugs our message is clear – don’t take risks, the consequences are simply not worth it. Prison conditions also vary significantly from country to country. Some Brits spend years behind bars confronting tough conditions every day. Sanitary standards and food can be very poor and some find themselves detained in crowded cells with many other inmates. Being far away from home and unable to speak the local language, many also feel isolated.”
Pauline Crowe, chief executive of Prisoners Abroad, said: “In many countries, men and women find themselves without access to food, clean water and the most basic of medical care. We urge people to consider the unsanitary conditions, overcrowded cells and the constant threat of disease before they get involved in drugs. They may have to live through these conditions for many, many years.”
The FCO and Prisoners Abroad listed some of the penalties travellers could face around the world. For example, in Thailand, possession of even very small quantities of drugs can lead to imprisonment, and possession of more than 20 grams of a Class A drug can result in a death sentence; in the UAE, possession of even the smallest amount of illegal drugs can lead to a minimum four-year jail sentence, and the presence of drugs in the blood stream is counted as possession; and in Indonesia, the authorities have a zero-tolerance policy and those caught face lengthy prison sentences or the death penalty, usually after a protracted and expensive legal process.
The campaign video can be viewed below: