[JinnyJinxed]

I have a friend in Hungary, who wants to come back to the UK.

He is a British National, born in Yorkshire, who had a breakdown a few years ago, and ended up in Hungary, where he has been ever since, surviving by doing various small cash in hand jobs and living on floors of people he knows or works for. But things have taken a turn for the worse in the past year.

He ended up in a relationship where he was beaten up very regularly by the lady, and he appears to now have a broken hand - though I can't be sure, and he can't afford medical treatment. This happened a few weeks ago, and he still can't move it.

I have watched a rapid decline in his mental health the past few weeks, complete with suicidal threatened, and in the last week, he has begged me repeatedly, in tears, to help him come home. But... he has no money, hasn't eaten properly in months, is soooo thin, and I don't know what to do to help get him back to the UK, where he can get treatment for all his issues. I contacted his family here in the UK, but there are a lot of issues between them, and they are not in a position to help.

He has been to the British Embassy, I'm not sure what happened, but allegedly they said to him, and the person he called, that they couldn't help at this time, and awarded him one phone call to the UK... he called a friend of his, and found a place to stay in the UK - it's just getting back that is the issue.

I just don't know how to help him. Anyone have any ideas?

[Mustabuster]

First you need to find out where his passport is. Is money an issue? Otherwise just fly him home? Can you go over there to bring him back?

[Normandie]

Can you phone the British Embassy or consulate? It may be that, when he spoke to the Embassy, he couldn't or didn't adequately represent himself and his problems or ask the right questions to get the answer he needs? However, I do know the Foreign Office don't usually fund people's returns from overseas but they might if he / you can enter into an agreement to pay them back. Persevere.

[MonsterStar]

Is this real? I swear this exact thing happened on a tv program about foreign embassy's I was watching.

[StressMonkey]

Does he have his passport? If not, he really needs to get this sorted first and the British consulate are the ones to do this.

They are also the ones who can issue a repatriation loan. There are some conditions on it but it should get him home (I think he'll have to give them his passport after that until it is paid back)

If you or other friends have the time and cash, then I would suggest going to get him. If you send him the money or buy a ticket (next best option) you can't be sure he'll manage to get the plane/train/coach home.

If he is in immediate need of cash and you can send him something, then this is where Western Union can be useful.

Hope it all works out OK.

[lesleyanne]

Originally Posted by MonsterStar

Is this real? I swear this exact thing happened on a tv program about foreign embassy's I was watching.

I'm sure that these kind of situations are not that rare, sadly.

[c4rv]

As stress monkey said, I would have thought the first thing to do is sort out the password and then think about how to travel back.