“Criminal” simulation replaces the Visa Office

Why we replaced the Visa Office with a “criminal” simulation

The Visa Office simulation was always our most popular event during HEAT courses. But after 18 years the event was due for a major change.

Instead of the Visa Office, participants can now experience the Middle Man simulation.

During this simulation, the participants are confronted with a member of the mafia.

The group has to interact with the mobster to reach their goals. The mobster takes advantage of the situation and will make them an offer they can’t refuse.

This “criminal” simulation is developed by CSD because field workers are more often confronted with criminal groups. The modus operandi of these groups can differ from “traditional” actors.

According to the Aid Workers Security Report 2021, criminality exceeded conflict-related violence in aid worker attacks for the first time in 2020.

The report states that “One form of criminal threat arises from the fragmentation and dissolution of armed political conflict in fragile or failing states, where unpaid fighters, splintering into smaller groups, sustain their activities through crime, which ultimately becomes the ongoing objective. In such conditions, humanitarian operations can be a draw for criminals and crisis response contexts a potential breeding ground for organised crime.”

With this new simulation, CSD adapts the HEAT (Hostile environment Awareness Training) courses to this new reality in the field.