When The Going Gets Tough - By Tom Jackson

Direct threats against foreigners are a fact of life in some parts of the world. In poorer countries, the combination of Western technology and substantial capital is too precious to lose - which is precisely why local opposition groups so often target foreign investors in a bid to undermine the regime.

It is no use simply reacting to such threats on an ad hoc basis once they have been made. The safety of your employees and their dependants is too important to be left unconsidered until anarchy reigns or there is a serious breakdown in law and order. You should draw up a detailed business continuity plan which aims to maintain operations without posing unacceptable danger to staff.

The use of the phrase business continuity is crucial. In many cases, your interests will not necessarily be best served by mass evacuation. If you do need to remove people, you may be able to continue longer by gradually reducing the number of foreign personnel - it is easier to evacuate two people