Has the escalation of the conflict between Israel and Iran led to a period of intense activity at International SOS?
Béatrix Renaut - Indeed, with this new wave of hostilities between Iran and Israel, we were heavily mobilised. First of all, our customers came to us for information, for answers to the questions everyone was asking. What is happening and how might the situation evolve? What are the consequences for my employees in the Near and Middle East? Among other questions of a more practical nature, on the state of borders and the closure of airspace. Next up, requests for evacuation came in very quickly. Some companies envisaged this as early as the afternoon of Friday 13 June, just after the first Israeli bombardments on the night of 12-13. The evacuations then began in earnest on Sunday, after the Sabbath.
Have you received many evacuation requests?
B. R. - To date, we have evacuated almost 400 people, which is quite a significant number. These evacuation requests have come from all over the world, from British, French, German and American companies in all sectors, including infrastructure, tech and engineering. We also have a lot of universities as clients, and we've had requests to evacuate a number of exchange students and trainees. Compared with previous episodes of tension, there was something different about this crisisThis was followed by a prolonged closure of Israeli airspace. We see this in crises of this configuration: when the airport is no longer operational, people quickly feel trapped.
With air services suspended, how did you get organised?
B. R. - As Israeli airspace was closed, convoys had to be organised by road, which meant they were smaller than charter flights. But we also organised a sea evacuation to Cyprus. And this was done in both directions, because we also had Israelis who wanted to return to their country. In this context, for a group of Israelis, we were also able to set up a charter flight from Athens to Aqaba, with a border crossing in Jordan so that they could get to Eilat. But more generally, we mainly went via JordanIt was at the Sheikh Hussein Bridge crossing, as the other crossing points in the West Bank were out of the question given the security climate. So it was this crossing point, an hour and a half's drive from Tel Aviv and two hours from Amman, that was very useful. Our evacuees were not the only ones to pass through there.
Aren't road evacuations more complex to organise?
B. R. - That's right. And to achieve this, we relied on our security and logistics partners in the field. This was followed by a extremely meticulous planning on how to collect the evacuees and their families from their homes, in what order, and then take them to the assembly point. Buses have been hired to bring as many people as possible to the border crossing with Jordan. Added to this are other problems, such as a list of people to be evacuated that can change five minutes before the convoy departs, and the possibility of warning sirens going off when you are on the road, requiring you to stop. Once you arrive at the border, you need to have your papers in order and, for some nationalities, additional documentation. People spent three to four hours, some even longer. From there, our partner on the other side of the border took care of transporting them to Amman, booking hotel rooms and plane tickets to their destination.
With the recent announcement of a ceasefire, is the situation improving?
B. R. - For us, the crisis is over. We demobilised the day after it was announced. But this return to normal doesn't mean that we don't continue to have problems. questions on the regional situation, our travel recommendations, airspace operability, etc.. Then there's the question of returning home. Although the situation has stabilised, it remains volatile. We're going to give time to time, to see if the ceasefire really holds, and what the outcome of the diplomatic talks will be. While we had lowered the evacuation level to "stand-by" for Israel at the beginning of the year, we were forced to raise it after 13 June, recommending the evacuation of non-essential personnel. When you make a change like this, it has a significant impact on the precautions that companies take. Admittedly, there has been a de-escalation, but we remain cautious. And I think that companies will be too. With the summer and the holidays approaching, I'm not sure that the decision will be taken to send their employees back to their home country before September, until the indicators are a little more reassuring.
More generally, what recommendations does International SOS have for the countries in the region?
B. R. - As far as Israel is concerned, it is advisable to postpone travel until further notice.This is despite the fact that Ben-Gurion airport is operational, that airspace is open and that a return to "business as usual" was achieved very quickly following the end of the state of emergency. In the case of Iran, airspace remains closed until the beginning of July, so this council will be in place until 15 July. As far as Jordan is concerned, for a time we advised suspending travel because airspace could be subject to closure and there was a lot of pressure on Amman airport, which was being used as a hub for evacuations. But we have reviewed this advice and travel can now resume as normal. The same applies to the Gulf States - Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and even Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia - for which we did not recommend suspending travel, although we did warn of the possible impact on air links.
Dubai and Doha airports have also fallen victim to the crisis. How have your customers reacted to this situation?
B. R. - At the height of the crisis, without the Gulf countries being directly affected, some companies decided to suspend travel to the Emirates, to avoid the possibility of travel being affected by the closure of airspace or by changes in itineraries. Beyond the conflict between Iran and Israel, a more global reflection has been carried out on regional travel. We received a lot of requests for consultancy from companies telling us: I have offices in Dubai, so I'm going to Dubai. what could be the impact of a regional escalation? on my employees and my business in the Emirates? We have been asked to draw up security and crisis management plans. We encourage people to ask these questions in times of peace rather than crisis.. But it's better to ask the question too late than never. For some companies, it has been a wake-up call, accelerating the introduction of procedures and informing employees about the risks. You can feel a new impetus to raise awareness of these various issues.
