British Embassy.

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carrie
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British Embassy.

Post by carrie »

I don't know how many are aware but two very long term residents have died recently friends have had to get the police to enter their homes and have discovered bodies. The police immediately seal off the premises and wont allow anyone to enter.
In both cases the two people had no close relatives with whom they were in contact, no one here had any idea who the next of kin are.
Ask the Embassy for help. "Sorry we don't deal with something like that." Can you help us with the police to allow someone to enter the apartments to search and see if they can find any paper work that may give a lead to any next of kin. "No we don't deal with any thing like that." What about the burial," B.E. reply we don't want to know. Get the ex pats to pay for it."
The British Embassy has done nothing but reply negatively to any requests. They have ignored emails refused to answer phone calls . Meanwhile weeks after the deaths the bodies are still lying in the morgue
and are likely to remain there.
What are the British Embassy here for certainly not to help the ex pats in any way. What to do now?


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Re: British Embassy.

Post by newcastle »

My understanding is that there is very little the embassy can ,or will, do for a deceased UK citizen. They will however assist any ex-pat with advice on what to do in the circumstances outlined in the OP.

Unfortunately, this probably means little more than directing them to a local English-speaking lawyer who may be able assist interested ‘friends’ in liaising with the police etc. and finding next-of kin.

I don’t think the embassy would get involved with burial or repatriation of bodies. This would be down to the family of the deceased.
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Re: British Embassy.

Post by Horus »

Regarding the burial costs, well that is little different than here in the UK, the authorities will approach just about anyone related to the deceased in order to cover the funeral expenses.
Newcastle is correct that UK will not repatriate a body to the uk, that is at the expense of family and has been so for as long as I can remember.
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Re: British Embassy.

Post by newcastle »

If the embassy is given relevant details of the deceased ( if this can be obtained) , they will contact the UK police in order to try and locate next-of -kin.

Unfortunately, so many people come to Egypt- even settle there - without a advising the embassy of their existence!
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Re: British Embassy.

Post by carrie »

Don't want the bodies returned to the UK, the BE has not asked the UK police to search for any next of kin, not their business. I agree that the UK police should be able to trace the NOK but the B.E. haven't asked them to do so.
I do think it is partly the problem with the deceased not letting anyone know how to contact relatives but they were so estranged from them they refused to discuss their families with anyone. I suppose they will both have to stay where they are in the chiller cabinet.
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Re: British Embassy.

Post by Who2 »

I always have thought of rather good ideas, making money and making people happy.
Now we live in 'the land of the dead, do we not ?
Gives one clue and an idea! does it not ?

I'm sure Iv'e told you all this before, but it's a Sunday....

Some years ago had a chat with my german pal 'an entrepreneur, he said he had thought about it years ago.
But the 'gov were not open to leasing out some old wadi, Your very own personnel tomb....
Dead cheap in the first instance and a discount for ex-pats then, move into the 'mega rich bracket.

Our problem arose with flying in dead people, Gov didn't approve of that either.
Next idea! rich folks come when their close to meeting their maker.

We put them up in my mates posh Desert Hotel until the time is ripe.
Forget Switzerland and Dignitas (which started life in a ruddy business park).

Here we have the Sun, therapeutic pools, masseuse's, pretty good food if you know what your doing.
And most of all 'peace and tranquility and cheap booze. Oh! yeh loads of really old stuff to 'gawk at or marvell at.

'Sort of 'makes one feel a bit insignificant, and about one's life to date..

Iv'e attended a few funerals here and special there not.
"I want to make them special and for people to appreciate what they had, but now has gone.
Deep eh ?

One has endless possibilities, one's very own carved tomb, mp3 blue tooth favorite tunes,
death masks, remembrance plaques, visitors center.
I mean The VoK has been pretty popular over the years.."Sa ?

And what has Her Britannic Majesty's Ambassador to the Arab Republic of Egypt, ever done for you ?
They and their families always got free balloon flights.....

Anyhow enough about death, I know it's Sunday and Radio 4 is always crap on a Sunday.
So it's off to the plunge/regenerating pool and a beer...

Iv'e always wondered about death, worked with it for years, it's really amazing
Ive' been planning my send-off for years. It'll be a real craik as long as the air-conditiong is on automatic.
If you get my drift!...... 8)
"The Salvation of Mankind lies in making everything the responsibility of All"
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Re: British Embassy.

Post by Horus »

Surely if they are so estranged from their families that they have no contact with them then that is what they wished and if such a state exists then no doubt the relatives would not be bothered either. I know of several examples of people who cut off all contact with their families for various reasons and would have no interest if certain realatives were alive or dead, this may be the case here. As to staying in a morgue for ever, I doubt that would happen, eventually they will be given some sort of paupers burial.
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Re: British Embassy.

Post by Who2 »

Who remembers that, 'I think channel 4 programme on moving the Foreigners graveyard,
which then became the Suzanne Mubarak Park, then the just The Park ?
My mate helped the film-crew, he said loads of old European families came and many of the dead
were Generals, Colonels ect from the 2nd WW.
He said lots of the marble was stolen at the time.

He can't remember the title of the film, somewhere in the 'old grey cells was it The Foreigners Cemetery ?.... 8)
Any ideas !
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Re: British Embassy.

Post by newcastle »

carrie wrote: Sun Jun 30, 2019 11:53 am Don't want the bodies returned to the UK, the BE has not asked the UK police to search for any next of kin, not their business. I agree that the UK police should be able to trace the NOK but the B.E. haven't asked them to do so.
Maybe the embassy hasn’t been approached in the right way, or with sufficient information regarding the identity of the deceased.

According to their own information website they will contact the UK authorities in order to identify and inform next-of-kin,,,..but they also indicate that, beyond such assistance, It is very much for the relatives to sort out the practicalities.

You can be pretty sure the Egyptians won’t want to be lumbered with the cost and trouble of disposing of the bodies and will, themselves, contact the UK authorities (either direct or via the embassy) in order to locate any UK family. Only if they have no joy there will they, as Horus says, have the bodies buried as cheaply as possible.
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Re: British Embassy.

Post by carrie »

The Embassy have been informed of all the information that can be gleaned about these two ex pats. We can only tell them what we have been told. People here don't always tell the truth about their pasts their relatives etc. but what they have told has been passed on to the relevant authorities i.e. The British Embassy.
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Re: British Embassy.

Post by A-Four »

I always find it sad to read such things, but often when I lived there many people who had moved to Luxor had long ago decided to die there, though had given little thought to the fact. Twentyfive years ago, health facilities on the West Bank were practically zero. At the maternity unit In Tarrife, (I use that term very loosely), the family of the mother to be not only had to bring bed covers, but also blankets to put on the floor, as there were no beds.

When they officially opened that new hospital in Tarrife, there was not even a bandage in the place, things did improve, I visited an old friend (not European) there some eight years ago now, the ward he was in had five other beds, and have to admit I was impressed, though the average European on first visiting a such hospital, certainly would not.

When I lived there I was still quite young and certainly very healthy, it was also prudent for me not to stay too long in the U.K., obviously for tax purposes. At this same time I was amazed to learn that people were retiring in Luxor, and average age of these people were 65 to 70 years old. I only entered into conversation with one such person who intended to buy a house on the W.B., I simply asked him if he knew the price of a pint of milk, the answer was no, so the idea of knowledge of the local hospital was less than nil.

The problem of health services is not just in Egypt, here in the U.K., such T.V. programs as A Place In The Sun, advise retired couples to find that 'dream' home, never once have I noticed any one asked about the quality of the local hospital. Very soon my London home will be sold, and although I have never had a serious illness in my life, a good G.P. and hospital is far more important than anything else, and especially for any of those who are over 65 years old.

Such people who live in Luxor now should accept that they will die there, they should inform their relatives that it's their intention to be buried there, being that repatriation of a body is very expensive for uninsured ex-pats...............Sorry to be so gloomy, but sorting such things out before death, is much more easier on the conscience of the family.
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Re: British Embassy.

Post by Yildez »

One of the reasons, and only one, that I live in Turkey, is access to excellent healthcare. I pay into the government Heath insurance scheme, expensive at (currently, increases every year) £84 a month, but everything is covered and I can sleep easily at night. If a foreigner dies here in Datca, unless the next of kin wishes to repatriate the body they're buried in a corner of one of the local cemeteries, with the local council picking up the bill. It's not expensive in any case - the council provides a re-useable coffin and a special open truck to transport it.
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Re: British Embassy.

Post by Chris »

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office issue a leaflet entitled 'Coping with death Abroad' -

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... ath-abroad
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Re: British Embassy.

Post by Who2 »

Quote: "The UK funeral market is currently estimated to be worth around £1billion annually, with over 600,000 funerals taking place each year. There are an estimated 4,000 funeral directors at present offering services, but exact numbers are difficult to pinpoint as the profession is 'unregulated and anyone can enter it.

Sounds like a good enterprise to me. When Bruce died we were 'skint,
Nick used the same company that did Diana, we got a deal..'nuff said.

But if you cop-it in the UK they'll rip you right-off. I'm co-owner of the Coop along with a couple of other people,
even their burials aren't that cheap...... 8)


Ps: "Come to the Land of the Dead and Die, You know it makes sense...
"The Salvation of Mankind lies in making everything the responsibility of All"
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Re: British Embassy.

Post by Ruby Slippers »

A few years ago, I stated to a funeral director that I intended to have a cardboard coffin. Whereupon she said that would be more expensive than an ordinary funeral! Go figure!
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Re: British Embassy.

Post by John Landon »

You can be buried anywhere that you choose providing you have the landowners permission and the cost is zero.
Funerals are way too expensive, but thats how the system works..
I have a nice place lined up that will cost nothing at all, then I would like to have a tree planeted on top of me.

Stan ( RIP ) had it all sorted out, shame these 2 people didnt have a plan for the inevitable.
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Re: British Embassy.

Post by newcastle »

John Landon wrote: Wed Jul 03, 2019 10:00 am You can be buried anywhere that you choose providing you have the landowners permission and the cost is zero.
Funerals are way too expensive, but thats how the system works..
I have a nice place lined up that will cost nothing at all, then I would like to have a tree planeted on top of me. [*( Before or after you’ve shuffled off your mortal coil?)]

Stan ( RIP ) had it all sorted out, shame these 2 people didnt have a plan for the inevitable.
Although, in UK, there are few restrictions on the manner in which you can be be interred, it’s a good idea for the person doing the burial to inform the local police of what’s going on in case they jump to the wrong conclusion. :lol:

Several years ago my next door neighbours planned on burying a deceased child in their back garden but thought better of it when they considered how they would deal with any future house move.....or how a potential buyer would react to having a marked grave a few metres from their patio.
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Re: British Embassy.

Post by A-Four »

Ruby Slippers wrote: Tue Jul 02, 2019 4:22 am A few years ago, I stated to a funeral director that I intended to have a cardboard coffin. Whereupon she said that would be more expensive than an ordinary funeral! Go figure!
I was in a town called Worthing, on the South Coast over the week-end, apparently a place where most of the population is over 65 years old, I noticed a large poster advert for a nation wide company called Pure Cremations, no coffin, no service, no mourner, and all for just over a grand, that's as 'cheap as chips',.........as one old coffin dodger would say.
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Re: British Embassy.

Post by carrie »

Latest news, my two friends are still in the mortuary the British Embassy said they had been in touch with some charity and were sending the money for both funerals to Mr Gaddis, this was over a week ago. Still waiting.
Went to enquire how much a burial would cost at the monastery was told 10,000 le when I said I thought that was a little expensive the Priest said well how much you pay, felt like I was in the souk.
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Re: British Embassy.

Post by A-Four »

I would have thought there had been a whip-round by now from the ex-pats, especially from those who don't drink, don't smoke, or for that matter don't go out much,.............got to do something with the spare cash. :wi .
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