COMPLEX
INTERNATIONAL
REPATRIATION
FROM THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS TO USA
By Samuel Tester, Operations Director Homeland International, UK
omeland International was recently
engaged by a funeral home in the
USA who required our assistance with
complex support from the Galapagos
Islands, Ecuador. The Galapagos Islands
are a group of mostly uninhabited, highly
remote islands famous for their unique
landscapes and wildlife. Regular flights
from the islands are unavailable for
passengers and for the repatriation of
a deceased person, options even more
limited making a repatriation particularly
challenging.
Homeland International were able to quickly collate
an all-inclusive costing from the Galapagos Islands
back to Cleveland USA to the client, a US based funeral
director, within just 2 hours from initial enquiry. The
Funeral Director was grateful to find a company able
to deliver a quick and efficient solution for them and
the family in their care and quickly approved our
quote, allowing us to commence.
Despite our quick intervention, a local person
has already been engaged to transport the
deceased person from the place of death, to
a basic mortuary facility with no refrigeration.
This immediately created a problem as they were
demanding we pay a large sum of money before
they would release the deceased person to our
local agent. Fortunately, through our strong and
experienced international network of suppliers,
we quickly ascertained that the amount being
demanded was unlawful and unjustified. In
some areas of the world, these situations are not
uncommon and require us to negotiate fairly to
protect our clients whilst ensuring we do not delay
the repatriation for too long whilst negotiating. It
is vital we engage with contacts we trust around
the world because in these situations we rely
upon these local experts who understand how
to best communicate based on local languages
and cultures. Thankfully, we were able to quickly
negotiate with this individual, reducing the costs
demanded for their services and enabling us to
quickly plan the first stage of the journey home.
Our next challenge was more logistical. There
aren’t a great number of flights from the
Galapagos and the flights that are scheduled
Photo: Kiyoshi on Unsplash
34
No. 102 – SUMMER 2023 | THANOS MAGAZINE
CASE STUDY