What do you do if you are arrested while volunteering abroad
“You can be arrested and not charged. You can be arrested and have no right to counsel.”- Harry Belafonte. When volunteering abroad, your biggest hope is that nothing goes wrong during your experience while in a foreign country, but as fate would have it things can often go wrong, and most likely when you least expect it. It will help you a lot if you are prepared for some likely unfortunate circumstances that you may find yourself in. Here are some guidelines in case you get arrested.
A volunteer can be arrested for a number of reasons, more seriously, you can be arrested for something as simple as a traffic accident, or something more serious as drug possession. Whatever the reason for your arrest, helping the volunteers to try and not be arrested for blatantly breaking the law in the country you're in. When you are abroad you are subject to the laws of the country you are in, and therefore you have to obey them to the best of my ability.
There are some cases where a volunteer can you commit a crime and you do not know that you are breaking the law. In such cases, you can not tell the police that you did not know that you are committing a crime, as ignorance of the law is not a defense. For example, chewing gum in Malaysia is a crime and punishment are a couple of days in jail or heavy fines. To avoid this happening it is wise to be properly oriented on the rules and regulations in a particular location. If you are unsure of the rules to ask for some help from the locals to guide you.
If you are in a country and you do not speak the language, it becomes difficult for you to explain yourself. When you commit a crime, the police will arrest you even though you are a foreigner and they will not extend your courtesy to try to talk to you in a language you understand. Since most of the police officers will not be able to communicate with you effectively and thus defend himself can be a problem. In such extreme cases, ask for permission to call one of the local people who are your friend and who would help with the translation.
If arrested, the first thing you should contact your embassy or high commission office. Officers from the embassy will help to connect with your emergency contacts and in some cases help you get a local lawyer who understands and speaks your language. This is one of your rights, so do not be afraid to ask for legal representation. Always try to be polite and not lose your cool while dealing with the local or arresting officers, especially if you have been arrested for a minor offense, this can help you come to a quicker and easier resolution and release, also ask if you can be released on bond while the issue is resolved.
If arrested abroad, ensure that appropriate documentation is provided for all the belongings that were in your possession when arrested, make sure that nothing incriminating has been added to the list of your belongings, also make sure that you carefully check your personal belongings when they are released to see that nothing is missing.
One thing to watch out for if arrested while volunteering abroad is to ensure that you do not put your signature on something that you have carefully read, and possibly got some legal advice on, you do not make things more worse for you self
For more free information and low cost volunteer programs in Africa, visit Volunteer in Africa
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Submited at Tuesday, April 19th, 2011 at 5:01 pm on Africa by blum
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