Hypothetical question I got

[Comrade69]

First of all I have no idea what section to post this under...but I was just wondering

Lets say country X goes to war with country Y

What happens to the men and women who work for country Y's embassy living in country X.....do they get taken POW or do they get escorted out of the country during the conflict...?

 

[NICO]

My guess is they are escorted out of the country. Normally an embassy and staff should be provided diplomatic immunity/security and be allowed to leave the country but that doesn't always happen as we have seen in the past. Embassies have been overrun and taken over with hostages and such.

 

[Jhom]

To give you an example, in WW2 as was traditional, diplomatic missions were exchanged, i.e. staff of the German and Japanese embassies in Washington returned to their homelands and American diplomatic staff in those countries similarly went back to the USA. Of course this took time, several months up to a year, and diplomatic staff were interned under comfortable conditions until their ship was ready. The Swedish ship Gripsholm carried many of these diplomats (Axis and Allied) and formal exchanges were made at a Portuguese port in Africa because both Sweden and Portugal were neutral during WW2.

 

[Seraph]

Countries will usually exchange accredited diplomats in an orderly fashion, if only to ensure that their own people make it home safely as well.

Diplomatic duties will sometimes be assumed by non-affiliated country so as to ensure communications lanes for peace negotiations etc. Of course, this can happen in times of peace as well (Switzerland representing the USA in Iran, for example).