Just about one year ago the first COVID restrictions went into effect in the US. When that happened, hundreds of thousands of Americans were caught overseas. I want to highlight the heroic efforts our embassies took – especially in the world’s most isolated places – to help them get home. I have mentioned before in this column that American ambassadors, and the teams they lead, have no greater responsibility than the protection of American citizens, and COVID provided the ultimate challenge. The disease was horrible enough, but my region of responsibility, Africa, was less prepared for COVID than anywhere else.
With poor health systems, underdeveloped infrastructure, spotty internet, widespread poverty and crowded cities, social distancing, frequent handwashing, and telecommuting were rarely an option. The emergency went from zero to 100 mph in a few weeks. Africa’s air connections are sparse at the best of times, but even those few flights were cancelled. Then airports closed completely, and governments sealed borders as the pandemic spread across this huge continent. (And Africa is huge – it can fit the US, China, India, and Europe inside its border.)
In addition to American travelers who were caught in transit, Africa is home to thousands of US missionaries and humanitarian workers. And beyond these folks who wanted back to the US “yesterday,” our embassy staffs also had their share of people with vulnerabilities and they also needed evacuation. Then there were larger problems – would governments collapse, would cities run out of food and supplies, would terrorist groups take advantage and increase their mayhem?
Thankfully, in Washington we had incredibly skilled leaders who cut through the red tape and mobilized the resources to support our embassies in making this incredibly difficult effort succeed. (Yes – there really are such folks in DC working for the Government!) Undersecretary of State Bulatao and his team, with…