Farnesina sends personnel to Kathmandu: three Italians remain unaccounted for

Italy’s response to the flooding between Nepal and Tibet takes the form of an administrative operation that is unspectacular but very concrete: moving people. The Foreign Ministry has assigned to Kathmandu officials serving at the Italian embassy in New Delhi, so as to expand the diplomatic presence in the country and support for Italians there. It was Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani who announced this, according to Il Foglio.

The most relevant figure concerns the number of people to be traced. According to the Farnesina, of the roughly ten Italians initially untraceable, three specific reported cases remain: the others have been traced through established contacts or reports that were resolved. This is a reduction, not a closure, and should be read as such: in the first hours after a disaster in a mountainous area, the category “untraceable” includes both those actually involved and those who simply have no phone signal.

The numbers of the Italian presence

The overall picture of fellow nationals in the area is broader than the three open cases. According to Il Fatto Quotidiano, of the 90 Italians registered with the Farnesina in Nepal, only two were in the area hit by the flooding, and they are reported to be in good condition. The number of those registered, however, does not match the number of those actually present: registration with diplomatic missions is voluntary, and those entering the country for a two-week trek often do not register. This is why the three reported cases are not necessarily a subset of the 90.

A second channel is the local one: Nepalese authorities have indicated the presence of Italian citizens on the list of missing persons issued by the Nepal Tourism Board, a list that overall includes 517 foreign tourists and 127 Nepalese citizens, according to data reported by Sky TG24. That list includes, for the most numerous nationalities, 178 Indians, 100 Chinese, 65 Americans and 53 Ukrainians. The number of Italians appearing on it has not been made public, and no explicit comparison between the Nepalese list and the Farnesina’s three cases has been made by either party.

Condolences and assistance

On the political level, the minister expressed “the government’s condolences to the families of the victims of the flooding,” referring to Nepal and the Tibetan region. The formula is the customary one; the administrative act accompanying it — reinforcing the Kathmandu post with personnel seconded from New Delhi — is instead the measure of how manageable the event is considered to be with ordinary resources: no dedicated crisis unit has been announced, nor has the dispatch of Italian rescue teams.

Consular assistance in such cases consists of repetitive operations: cross-checking reports from family members, contacting tour operators and trekking agencies, checking hotel registers and trekking permits, and liaising with local police. It is work that produces measurable results only in the negative, that is, when the number of open cases goes down.

What we do not know

We do not know how many officials were sent to Kathmandu nor for how long. We do not know whether the three reported cases involve people included on the Nepal Tourism Board list or reports received from family members in Italy. It has not been stated whether a dedicated phone line for family members has been activated, nor what channel is used to transmit information from Nepalese authorities to the Italian mission.

The verifiable step in the coming hours is a single one: the Farnesina’s update of the number of open cases. As of August 27, that number was three, down from roughly ten initially.

Sources: Il Foglio; ANSA; Il Fatto Quotidiano; Sky TG24.