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4th July 2014 London, UK

Assisting forced marriage victims: the overseas perspective

Neelam Farooq: senior Consular Assistance, British High Commission Islamabad. It’s Monday morning and I walk into the office with yesterday’s rescue still echoing in my mind, which was in essence a cry for help from a teenage girl Yasmeen*, who is a potential victim of forced marriage. We deal with over 100 cases of Forced […]

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6th March 2013 London, UK

Switching night and day – life in the Global Response Centre

In the lead up to International Women’s Day on Friday, we are featuring the stories of women who work for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as guest articles across the FCO bloggers’ network. Carole Johnson is a Team Leader in the FCO’s Global Response Centre (GRC). It operates around the clock, 365 days a year, […]

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21st December 2012 London, UK

Consular Christmas blogs: Have a Merry and Safe Christmas, Minister Mark Simmonds…

The following is a guest post by Foreign Office Minister, Mark Simmonds. Over the last two weeks we’ve brought you a series of blogs from our consular staff from around the world. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading about some of the work we do to support British nationals abroad, and gained some insight into what […]

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20th December 2012 London, UK

Consular Christmas blogs: Piñatas and Posadas – A Mexican Christmas

Christmas Piñatas

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year in Mexico. There are lights hanging everywhere, everyone is buying Christmas presents and arranging a family reunion with a fancy dinner. Our Mexican celebrations are the fusion of indigenous and Spanish traditions, seasoned with a bit of influence from the USA. The celebration starts with our […]

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19th December 2012 London, UK

Consular Christmas blogs: An alternative Christmas in Goa

The end of the year is a fun time to be in Goa. The festive season starts with the Hindu festivals of Ganesh Chaturthi and Diwali, then you have the various church feasts that honour the patron saints of each village. In December, Roman Catholics celebrate the feast of St. Francis Xavier, the patron saint […]

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17th December 2012 London, UK

Consular Christmas blogs: Christmas in the land of the midnight sun

Thanks to Joanna Lumley’s wonderful documentary about her trip to Norway – and her frantic search for the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) – Norway has become a popular destination for British tourists all year round. For people searching for beautiful fjords, midnight sun, Northern Lights or rugged mountains, Norway has a lot to offer. But […]

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