France Won’t Charge for Rescuing Aid Workers Abroad

France will exempt humanitarian workers from proposed legislation aimed at recovering the cost of rescuing French citizens taken hostage in global hotspots, says Reuters.

Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, a doctor who co-founded the medical charity Doctors Without Borders, said Monday that aid workers and journalists would be exempt from the bill, which is aimed at tourists who ignore warnings about traveling to danger zones and travel agencies that fail to alert customers to potential risks.

The measure, prompted by costly military operations to help French citizens abducted in Afghanistan and off the Somali coast, would enable the state to reclaim “all or part of the expenses incurred in overseas rescue operations for those who deliberately exposed themselves” to danger.