Security Evacuation FAQs

Employees going through an evacuation

Author: Nicky Dewhurst, Director, Business Operations/Response, Control Risks

A security evacuation is the urgent and coordinated effort to move individuals from a hazardous area to a place of safety due to imminent threats of severe injury or fatality. This process ensures the orderly and managed relocation of people from danger zones to secure locations.

In this article, our Fidelity / Crime team provides essential guidance on how to prepare for such emergencies, identifies scenarios that necessitate a security evacuation and addresses other common questions on the topic.

What measures can you take to prepare for a possible political/security evacuation?

Ensure that you have a functional evacuation plan specific to employees and assets. This should include the following.

Designated evacuation leadership team
Identified points of departure for air, sea and land evacuations
Means of departure (Airplane, boat, vehicles)
Triggers to decide at which point they should evacuate
A means of monitoring the ongoing incident/situation, country analysis/reporting
Options for “sheltering in place”

Why shouldn’t clients rely solely on the U.S. State Department for evacuation advice and response services?

The U.S. State Department’s role is to keep the U.S. citizen community informed of safety and security developments and travel options. The State Department is limited in its capacity of providing individual evacuation advice or assisting with the security of citizens if they choose to “shelter in place” or move to a departure point (airport, port, border crossing).

Who is Control Risks?

Great American’s Fidelity / Crime Division works with Control Risks, a global specialist risk consultant, to provide Insureds with 24-hour / 365-day access to Control Risks’ threat assessment and response capabilities.

Control Risks has offices in every world region and in every time zone. We will work with Control Risks to help Insureds navigate threats to harm Insureds and their businesses including kidnapping, extortion, child abduction and detention matters.

What are Control Risks’ levels of evacuation?

Level	Description	Definition
Level 1	No plan required	The likelihood of insecurity or natural disasters requiring evacuation is very low: full evacuation plans are not required.
Level 2	Preparation	Insecurity may pose occasional threats to staff, but these are manageable and sudden deterioration is unlikely. However, organizations are advised to prepare evacuation plans because there is a risk of deterioration in security conditions, vulnerability to natural hazards and/or potential difficulties in extracting people from the country.
Level 3	Caution	Security and operational threats are manageable but the potential for rapid deterioration means organizations should have full evacuation plans in readiness for immediate implementation.
Level 4	Standby/Shelter-in-Place	Staff face risks from insecurity and on-the-ground conditions with a significant likelihood of escalation of spreading countrywide at short notice. Secure exit options are limited and subject to short-notice restrictions. Evacuation plans should be ready for immediate activation.
Level 5	Non-essential evacuation	Security and operational conditions pose a serious threat to staff and their families that cannot be fully managed, and the situation is likely to persist or deteriorate. Movement is restricted, there are few secure options for leaving the country and these could be blocked at short notice. Non-essential staff and families could be evacuated.
Level 6	Emergency evacuation	Risks to personnel are – or will very imminently become – extreme and largely unmanageable, and secure transport options are very limited; all staff should be evacuated.

What factors does Control Risks use to determine if a political/security evacuation is necessary?

The below factors and triggers would necessitate a non-essential evacuation.

Security: The government is under clear threat from a rapidly spreading insurgency; insecurity from riots, crime, kidnap and/or terrorism poses a significant threat, in particular to foreigners; there is an imminent risk of cross border invasion.
Politics: the government is losing control and being challenged by popular unrest, armed groups or separatist forces; there are strong indicators that a coup is imminent; alternatively, the administration may be hostile to some or all foreigners.
Natural disasters: a disaster has triggered shortages and interruptions to utilities, supplies, communications and transport (see table below). There is widespread damage to shelter in residential areas.
Communication and supplies: shortages of essential supplies occur regularly; power and water are regularly disrupted; mobile, internet and landline communications are unreliable due to infrastructure damage or government shutdowns.
Travel: curfews restrict movement at certain times. Travel to airports, ports or borders is hindered by insecurity or poor infrastructure; few options are available. Commercial airlines continue to operate but services are disrupted and or difficult to access. Land routes out are accessible but subject to security risks, weak infrastructure and/or strict entry requirements or insecurity in neighboring states.

The below factors and triggers would necessitate an emergency evacuation.

Security: War or civil war affects large parts of the country; law and order have collapsed, with high levels of crime and instability making it unsafe to go out; mob violence, criminals, kidnap groups and/or terrorists target foreigners.
Politics: The government has lost control and power is violently contested by armed groups or widescale popular mobilization. Alternatively, the administration – or an incoming regime – is actively hostile to some or all foreigners, who are at risk of unlawful detention or being prevented from leaving.
Natural disasters: There is severe damage to infrastructure from a natural disaster. The availability of safe shelter is very limited; temporary shelters are in use.
Communication and supplies: Essential supplies cannot be easily or safely acquired; utilities (power and water) are severely disrupted; satellite communications are essential.
Travel: Lengthy curfews significantly curtail movement. Travel to airports, ports or borders is unsafe due to serious security risks or the poor state of infrastructure. Commercial airlines are no longer operating or are planning to imminently end services. Land exits are severely hindered by security risks; infrastructure weaknesses; and/or insecurity or strict entry requirements in neighboring states.

What does “shelter in place” mean and why, in some cases, would Control Risks recommend clients “shelter in place” versus evacuation?

“Shelter in place” means that individuals seek protection in their homes, places of employment, or other locations when a hazard or threat is imminent or occurring.

Secure exit/evacuation options are limited and subject to short-notice restrictions.
May be preferable over an evacuation when it is considered safer to remain than to evacuate due to risks from insecurity and on-the-ground conditions.

What are Control Risks’ capabilities during an ordered evacuation and how can Control Risks support clients that need to evacuate?

Capabilities
Client Support Options	Example on-the-ground assistance scenarios
Strategic advisory: Situational updates and country analysis/reporting Crisis Management team support Seerist (AI intelligence platform) alerts and notifications Control Risks ONE (24hr global risk operations center) advisory support Operational planning: Scenario based emergency and crisis management planning (including evacuation) Setting up security operational processes to manage the event incident Country/event/security awareness training and briefings Control Risks ONE advisory support On-the-ground assistance: Journey management services Static site protection Evacuation/hibernation support Wellbeing check-ins	Following the outbreak of violence in several areas of the country a client enquiry is received to assist with the securing of project sites and the provision of journey management services for at risk personnel/travel in higher risk areas. The Crisis and Security Consulting (CSC) team will work with the Global Risk Analysis (GRA) team to assess the feasibility of providing on-the-ground support and the associated timelines to do that. CSC will identify any in-country resources to conduct an on-the-ground assessment of the unrest. Where resources are not available, this may require travel by a consultant from the nearest office or the engagement of a subcontractor to deploy the location. Preparation and planning will include the identification of vetted and compliant vehicle and driver providers to facilitate any on-the-ground support including shelter-in-place and evacuation options. Where a maritime or air evacuation is required, we will engage with a vetted and compliant provider to support the in-country team. A formal review of the response plan and approval to proceed will be conducted as per the Standard Operating Procedure workflow. Operational management and oversight will remain with CSC Operations team.

Capabilities

Client Support Options

Example on-the-ground assistance scenarios

Strategic advisory:

Situational updates and country analysis/reporting
Crisis Management team support
Seerist (AI intelligence platform) alerts and notifications
Control Risks ONE (24hr global risk operations center) advisory support

Operational planning:

Scenario based emergency and crisis management planning (including evacuation)
Setting up security operational processes to manage the event incident
Country/event/security awareness training and briefings
Control Risks ONE advisory support

On-the-ground assistance:

Journey management services
Static site protection
Evacuation/hibernation support
Wellbeing check-ins

Following the outbreak of violence in several areas of the country a client enquiry is received to assist with the securing of project sites and the provision of journey management services for at risk personnel/travel in higher risk areas.
The Crisis and Security Consulting (CSC) team will work with the Global Risk Analysis (GRA) team to assess the feasibility of providing on-the-ground support and the associated timelines to do that.
CSC will identify any in-country resources to conduct an on-the-ground assessment of the unrest. Where resources are not available, this may require travel by a consultant from the nearest office or the engagement of a subcontractor to deploy the location.
Preparation and planning will include the identification of vetted and compliant vehicle and driver providers to facilitate any on-the-ground support including shelter-in-place and evacuation options.
Where a maritime or air evacuation is required, we will engage with a vetted and compliant provider to support the in-country team.
A formal review of the response plan and approval to proceed will be conducted as per the Standard Operating Procedure workflow.
Operational management and oversight will remain with CSC Operations team.

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