From FB page :Expats and locals in Sihanoukville.

Emil Ekman
12 hrs

I feel like saying a few words about the German embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and I will try to keep my anger and feelings to myself. Last week my very good friend Uwe had a motorbike accident. At first, his embassy in Cambodia said that they will pay his hospital bill, and arrange a flight to Germany for him, where he will have surgery to repair his broken collar bone. I already had time to start a fund raiser for him, but cancelled it since the embassy promised to handle the hospital bills for now, and later collect the money back from him. This would have been easy for everybody, and in the end Uwe would pay his own bills with his own money.
His passport is still at the first hospital where he was taken to in Sihanoukville with ambulance, being unconscious after he accident. When transferred to Phnom Penh, the clinic in Sihanoukville kept his passport as collateral for his bill, slightly over 300 dollars. It's illegal for the clinic to keep a passport as collateral. Instead of trying to retrieve the passport from the clinic, the embassy instead issued him an Emergency Travel Document (ETD), and arranged a flight for him for Monday evening. One issue is that an ETD can only be issued if your passport is reported lost or stolen, and if there is not enough time to apply for a new passport. So instead of trying to retrieve the passport from the clinic breaking the law, the embassy also broke the law. I can only wonder what they told the immigration police, who has to approve the ETD before it can be used, the embassy being very well aware of the passport being neither stolen or lost. Today, when the embassy informed Uwe about his upcoming flight on Monday, they also confirmed that they won't sort out the hospital bill, even though they later can collect the money from him. They will only arrange him to his flight, forcing the clinic to involve the police. The police then have the right to confiscate Uwe's belongings of value, like computer, DJ equipment etc.
Since Uwe is honest, and takes responsibility of his actions, he has full intention to pay the money he owes. The problem here is, that the embassy first promised to solve the issue in a very different way than they in the end did. If they would have said in the very beginning that they won't help him, I would have had over a week time to find a solution to this problem while I now have just over 2 days. Uwe has no family of any kind, and has been living in South-East Asia the last years, after 20 years in Goa, India. The fact that he didn't pay any taxes in Germany is not a valid argument, if the embassy thinks he won't pay back the money. He still has the same rights as any other citizen, the only different being that he also didn't spend any taxpayers money the last decades.

Anyhow Uwe must have done some things right in life, since karma is present. A very big and warm thanks goes to ms. Lee, the good hearted woman at First Center Polyclinic in Phnom Penh. She has been generous and caring, and has now arranged so that as long as half of the bill is paid on Monday, they will not involve the police, and she believes Uwe and me, that the bill will be taken care of as soon as possible. Thanks also to Daniel Shaked and Fredro Finz who has helped with small donations allowing me to take all his clothes and other things he needs in Germany, to the hospital in Phnom Penh. The only issue left is the money for half of his hospital bill. Since most of us work with tourism, this is the worst time of the year, last month of low season.
If you have possibility to help Uwe in this crappy situation, he will be ever grateful. He also will pay all the money back within the next couple months, unless you wish otherwise. The total bill is 1250 dollars, but even with less than half of it the problem can be solved for now.
Please contact me on PM or telephone +85596 5972932 for more details. I already gave him my last money for food etc, and will donate every dollar I earn this weekend towards his hospital bill.
Thanks for taking your time to read this post, by far the longest post I ever wrote.

boo fuckin hoo

if he aint got the money now after 20 odd years away how is he going to pay anyone back?

Why should this be anyone else's responsibility?


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to be fair... if he hasnt got $1250 in the bank how has he been living in India + Cambodia for the past 20+ years?!
He must have something tucked away or was he down to his last pennies?!
How was he planning on funding the rest of his stay if he has less than $1250 in his back burner
I'd struggle to trust lending money to people i know in Cambodia let alone complete strangers

If he only needs surgery for a broken collar bone, it's no big deal , not life threatening . The mother of the girls in my family had the same results from a motobike accident last year and I think any hospital can sort that problem out after taking a few x-rays.

Duncan wrote:If he only needs surgery for a broken collar bone, it's no big deal , not life threatening . The mother of the girls in my family had the same results from a motobike accident last year and I think any hospital can sort that problem out after taking a few x-rays.

Agreed. He seems to have confused his embassy for an insurance company. What's his plan? Get flown back to Germany so he can go on welfare so he can pay the government back???

Like so many of these heart-wrenching pleas for financial assistance, the details of the story don't seem to quite add up.

"The fact that he didn't pay any taxes in Germany is not a valid argument, if the embassy thinks he won't pay back the money. He still has the same rights as any other citizen, the only different being that he also didn't spend any taxpayers money the last decades."

Not so sure about the above quote. If he didn't pay taxes he most likely didn't contribute to the govt health plan which I believe would cover his hospital expenses in this Kingdong of Wonder. I may stand to be corrected as I am not German.

While I feel that he made some faulty decisions while in Asia, I don't know the full set of circumstances that he faced in a 20 year period. It comes as no surprise however to find that the milk of human kindness runs sour in Shitsville.

taabarang wrote:"The fact that he didn't pay any taxes in Germany is not a valid argument, if the embassy thinks he won't pay back the money. He still has the same rights as any other citizen, the only different being that he also didn't spend any taxpayers money the last decades."

Not so sure about the above quote. If he didn't pay taxes he most likely didn't contribute to the govt health plan which I believe would cover his hospital expenses in this Kingdong of Wonder. I may stand to be corrected as I am not German.

While I feel that he made some faulty decisions while in Asia, I don't know the full set of circumstances that he faced in a 20 year period. It comes as no surprise however to find that the milk of human kindness runs sour in Shitsville.

nothing sour about it, we are quite used to people living here who cant afford their medical bills or flights home or to renew their visa... desensitised if you will

I would like to help but since I work with tourism, this is the worst time of the year, last month of low season, etc. Almost as good as my, "You see my new job's a hassle and the kids have the flu but it's sure nice talking to you."