(Reuters) - With revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia, conflict in Libya and Ivory Coast and now an earthquake in Japan, specialist international crisis management, security and evacuation firms are busier than ever.
Major corporations and overstretched foreign ministries have turned to the handful of companies running private 24-hour operations rooms and field teams -- often staffed by ex-military personnel -- to help get people out and safeguard assets.
That ranges from facilitating air tickets and advising on safe passage, protection and refuge options to chartering planes and ships and occasional liaison with military rescue missions.
"It's been frantic," said Tom Frankland, a former British Army tank officer and now operations director for London-based crisis management firm Northcott Global Solutions. "We had Tunisia and Egypt, then Libya was hugely busy -- a mixture of energy and government clients who wanted help with evacuations."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/16/uk-business-evacuations-idUSLNE72F06C20110316Which means it costs plenty of money to be evacuated. If your government or business doesn't pay, you must. There was plenty of talk about how expensive it is to get evacuated out of Libya. Today's papers have articles about Ghanaians and Nigerians being stuck there. I wonder how much of this has to do with how expensive these security firms make the evacuation process.