2023-06-06 04:00:00
Holidays that turn into a nightmare: in Madagascar, Delphine found herself without a passport when the one who shared her room left with it, to Brussels, by mistake. So begins her fight, on an isolated island, to get her documents back and be able to return home. She tells us regarding her adventure.
The recent holidays of Delphine, a resident of Feluy, and Sylvia, were to be “quiet“. They started with trekking on Reunion Island, before ending with “four quiet beach days in Nosy Be“(an island in Madagascar), says Sylvia. However, these holidays in the sun end badly.
Via the orange Alert us button, Sylvia informed us of the misfortune of Delphine, who remained stuck on the island located in the north of Madagascar, for several days. “She is alone there and in distress. Morally, it’s not raining anymore“, alerted us Sylvia.
In the group of six people they were traveling with, one of them had to go back to Belgium earlier for a wedding. “She was sharing Delphine’s room, and without realizing it, she left with the two passports.“, explains Sylvia. It was when she was packing up her things to leave on her turn, on Saturday, that Delphine realized that her passport had disappeared.”I thought it was going to be difficult to leave the country“, then worries Delphine.
The gang organizes
Without waiting, the group takes steps to find a solution. “We contacted the airline and asked if we might still try to take the flight. Anyway, I was still going to try to take the flight because I had my ID“, she explains. Delphine was planning to land on the island of Reunion, French territory and a member of the Schengen area.
The airline accepts Delphine’s proposal, but arriving at the airport, things don’t go as planned: “I was turned away because of the border police“, she regrets.
He agrees to house her for less, given the situation
The two and a half hour beat before the flight will not be enough to find a solution. “We find a hotel which, fortunately, has a free suite. We negotiate the price and he agrees to accommodate her for less, given the situation.“, continues Sylvia. She and the four other members of the group are obliged to return to Belgium.
The nearest Belgian embassy is… in Kenya
Then begins a race once morest the clock to take the next plane where there is a place, on Thursday. All he needs is a passport to take off and to get a new one, it’s not that simple. There is no Belgian embassy in Madagascar. The competent embassy is in Nairobi, Kenya, while without a passport, Delphine cannot leave the territory.
There were very few contacts, he never picked up the phone
In Antananarivo, the Malagasy capital, there is an honorary consulate. It is 620km as the crow flies from Nosy Be. Delphine regrets that the contact with the consul was, to say the least, complicated. “There were very few contacts, he never picked up the phone. It must also be said that communications in Madagascar are very expensive, he answered me in writing“, annoys the traveler. He still offers to declare the loss of his passport, but Delphine has no time to lose: “I don’t want to make the declaration of loss if I’m not sure that Thursday I’m on the plane“.
As an honorary consul, his power is in fact limited. “He is a person who is representative of the country and who undertakes, on his honor, to be able to help people who are nationals of the country to help them in their various procedures.“, clarifies Anne-Sophie Snyers, Managing Director of the Belgian Travel Confederation. “These are honorary positions, so it is absolutely unpaid“, she adds. This one should have helped Delphine, she did not feel accompanied.
Delphine freed
The following Monday, the decision is made. “As I had no certainty from the consul of Belgium, I opted for security and I asked that someone bring me back my passport, that he take the plane on Monday to arrive on Tuesday followingnoon and leave on Thursday followingnoon“, says Delphine. It was to a friend that Delphine paid a round trip to deliver the passport in person.
This is how Delphine’s ordeal ended following six days of vagueness. “The biggest fear I had was that this joke would cost me relatively much“, she confides to us. “It’s not nice to end a trip like this, the end is a little spoiled for everyone“.
How to act in case of loss or theft?
When a traveler loses their passport, always contact the nearest Belgian embassy, following declaring the loss to the police. “Logically, it should contact its representation in Belgium, which itself will contact the Belgian authorities“, explains Anne-Sophie Snyers.
The spokesperson also advises to contact the municipality “to see to what extent she might have a duplicate of her passport“. It is also always good to have a paper copy of the passport, it makes the procedure easier.
The duplicate can then be received by email, according to Anne-Sophie Snyers. This generally makes it possible to convince the authorities to leave the territory.
While waiting to receive a travel document, certain costs may be reimbursed: “There are some travel insurances that support postponement of travel and stay on site“, points out the spokesperson, but specifies that this would not have covered the ticket of his friend who brought him his passport.
Delphine’s misadventure was not foreseeable, but every precaution should be taken, before and during the trip.
1686028492
#Delphine #Feluy #distress #island #Madagascar #roommate #passport #mistake #beginning #trouble
