My son is feeling sick and doesn’t know how to pack his suitcase. British embassy — sort it out!
Along with tips on jam-making and how best to discipline naughty boys, these are just a few of the barmy requests being fired at British embassies around the world, the Foreign Office said.
The country’s 261 diplomatic missions across the globe are tearing their hair out at some of the bizarre demands for help from Brits abroad, some of whom seem to think the British embassy is an agency for finding lost sunglasses and paying bills.
“If you have a serious problem abroad — maybe you’ve been involved in an accident, have lost your passport or are a victim of crime — we can help you,” said Juliet Maric, the British Consul in Alicante on the Spanish east coast.
“But we can’t tell you who is allowed to use your swimming pool, pay your taxi fares for you — or do anything about the exchange rate.
“We regularly get inquiries from people who think we’re a one-stop-shop for any problem they might encounter while abroad; this can be frustrating as we need to focus resources on the serious cases that we’re there to help with.”
One lady, unhappy with the size of her newly-boosted breasts following surgery, asked if the embassy could help.
One person called for consular assistance to find out what ratio of fruit to sugar should be used when making jam.
A holidaymaker in Italy asked the embassy where a particular brand of shoes could be bought.
Other requests have included asking for embassy staff to pay a bill when a credit card had “maxed out” and a traveller asking “Can you tell me how to make my naughty son behave?”
“Our embassies are not there to provide weather reports or give advice on unruly children,” said consular affairs minister Chris Bryant.
“It’s important that British nationals understand what the Foreign Office can and can’t do for them.”(AFP)
「我兒子身體不舒服,而且不會自己打包行李。」英國大使館—請解決!
英國外交部表示,詢問製作果醬的秘方及管教淘氣小男孩的最佳方法,都只是英國駐各地大使館接到的古怪請求的一小部分。
英國在全球各地有兩百六十一個外交代表機構,這些單位都為海外英國人提出的一些稀奇古怪要求所苦,其中不乏有人認為英國大使館是協尋弄丟的太陽眼鏡或代繳帳單的服務機構。
英國駐西班牙東岸阿利坎特領事茱麗葉.馬里奇說:「如果您在海外遭遇嚴重的問題,例如可能你發生了意外、弄丟護照,或是碰到犯罪事件,我們都能為您提供服務。」
「但我們無法為您解答誰能使用您的游泳池、替您支付計程車費,或是處理匯兌利率。」
「有民眾常把我們當作諮詢解決海外各項疑難雜症的萬應單位;這讓我們感到沮喪,我們必須把資源集中在緊急的案例,那才是我們的工作。」
曾有一位動完豐胸手術的女士對新胸部的大小不滿意,要求大使館提供協助。
還有一個人打電話到領事協助單位,詢問製作果醬的最佳糖、水果比例。
一位到義大利渡假的英國人詢問,哪裡可以買到某品牌的鞋子。
其他的詢問還包括:請大使館同仁代為支付「刷爆」的信用卡帳單,還有一位旅客問:「你們能教我怎麼讓調皮的兒子乖乖聽話嗎?」
領事事務部部長克里斯.布萊恩說:「我們駐外使館的任務不是提供氣象預報,也不是教你管教不聽話的小孩。」
「英國國民必須了解外交部能和不能為他們做什麼。」
(法新社╱翻譯:袁星塵)
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