Headline Archives |
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SPECIALIZED ASSISTANCE For U.S. Crime Victims Overseas |
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06/23/08 | ||||||
Earlier this month, we told you how the FBI responds internationally to incidents of Americans being seriously harmed or killed overseas. But we also offer another, more personal service: through our victim assistance program, we ensure that victims and their families receive all the rights and services help they are entitled to under U.S. law. In other words, we make sure they have what they need to help put their lives back together.
Included on our special terrorism team are licensed clinical social workers and, soon, a forensic family affairs specialist—all with plenty of experience working with victims, particularly bombing victims. Since then, we have worked with a variety of victims and their families—tourists, business travelers, missionaries, journalists, and humanitarian aid workers. We’ve also assisted U.S. government contractors and employees, including diplomats, security officials, and drivers. We have even worked with some of our own employees deployed overseas—most recently, with four agents injured in a bombing in Islamabad, Pakistan. Our assistance usually begins shortly after the family—or in some cases an employer—is notified of the incident by the State Department. Our assistance can continue for years, depending on the path of the investigation and subsequent court proceedings…as well as the needs of the victim and/or family. What kind of assistance do we offer? We break it down into three phases:
Over the past several years, we’ve been called upon to offer assistance to victims around the world. We’ve coordinated medical evacuations following terrorist attacks in the U.K., Jordan, and Egypt…helped families of citizens taken hostage in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Colombia…worked with recovered American hostages from Afghanistan, Iraq, Gaza, and Nigeria…and coordinated the repatriation of citizens killed in terror attacks in London, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt, and Jordan. We don’t do it alone. While working with American victims and their families, we often work closely with partner agencies like the State Department, Defense Department, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, and the Dover Air Force Base Mortuary. Resources: |