
It’s no secret that vacation abroad, whether it be a tourist trip or a business trip, is always fraught with danger – that is why medical insurance is always included in the mandatory package of tourist documents.
However, the aforementioned aspect of security is far from the same for all countries: because of such macro-environment factors as the political environment, the level of economic development, and cultural and religious characteristics, some countries are safer, and some less.
There is a certain list of states, which is associated with an increased level of risk to health and even to life! It is about them that our today’s rating “Top 10 most dangerous countries on the planet”.
Ukraine
Perhaps at the 10th place in the rating, you expected to see some underdeveloped African country, but the World Economic Forum, which annually determines the most and least secure states globally, thinks differently, it is Ukraine that opens our today’s rating.
Given the continuing hostilities between the Ukrainian armed forces and the separatists, staying in Ukraine today is unsafe, especially in the country’s eastern part. The situation is also darkened by the sharply increased level of the crime situation in recent years.
Sudan
Being one of the largest states in Africa, Sudan does not promise a carefree holiday for foreigners: in 1956, the country gained independence and was mired in long and bitter civil wars.
Every report by international human rights organizations includes reports of high violence levels by government forces against civilians. It has an even higher crime rate (2,600 murders since mid-2017 alone) and before it’s too late return your plane ticket.
Pakistan
The terrorist groups Taliban, Al-Qaeda, ISIS (or, to be more precise, its large subdivision – Vilayat Khorasan), and separatists put Pakistan in eighth place in the rating of the National Tourism Union.
It is extremely unsafe to be in the country: 15,000 murders a year, kidnapping, rape, and robbery are an integral part of the daily routine of this Islamic republic.
At the end of last year, the situation in Pakistan was exacerbated by militants fleeing from Syria, and by the unprecedented activity of criminal groups in Pakistan.
Honduras
Honduras is fundamentally different from its neighbors in terms of rating in that a record number of murders occurs annually in the country. According to statistics, most of the victims are activists who advocate preserving nature.
In 2017, the state was awarded the title of “the most dangerous country in the world to fight for its rights.” According to the London-based human rights organization Global Witness, people in Honduras are shot in the streets in broad daylight and kidnapped and tortured for their activism affecting large companies operating in the country.
Kenya
Many travelers who are planning to visit Kenya go there to take part in a safari. Tourism is one of the primary sources of income for the state: there are about 60 reserves with various representatives of wild fauna on the territory of the country.
However, there is a list of factors that negatively affect the level of security in the state. First, terrorism and then political instability, which often results in bloody armed clashes on the streets of cities and street crime. Most of the country’s population lives in poverty, so a tourist for them is a great opportunity to improve their situation, at least temporarily.
Venezuela
Venezuela, the most dangerous country in South America, is in fifth place in the National Tourism Union “Top 10 most dangerous countries on the planet”. In 2011, she set an absolute anti-record: the number of murders reached almost 22,000 people in a year.
Today, the situation is not much better. As law enforcement agencies are experiencing an acute shortage of funding, corruption is widespread throughout the country, and gangsters operate, whose activities are not limited to drug trafficking: they also kidnap tourists, rob and even kill them.
Human rights organizations note that there are big problems with the control over the circulation of weapons – in fact, there is none. It is not difficult to guess that this factor only contributes to the development of crime.
El Salvador
Although El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America, this does not prevent it from being on 4th place in ranking the most dangerous countries for tourists.
In 2015, the world media proclaimed El Salvador, the capital of street crime: according to statistics, 25 people are killed every day at the hands of bandits in the state. The fact that the morgues are overcrowded is also eloquent, and if the body of the victim has not been identified for 1-2 months, it is thrown into a mass grave at the Bermeha city cemetery.
The statistics speak for themselves: in El Salvador, with its 6 million population, more people die each year than in Iraq at the height of hostilities.
The bandit groups of El Salvador are called “mars”, and sometimes they kill civilians and tourists not for profit, but simply in protest against the authorities. Moreover, even the police are afraid of them: a mandatory attribute of every cop is a balaclava that hides a face.
Somalia
The country of pirates wins bronze in the NTS rating. The reason that Somalia is, to put it mildly, uneasy and unsafe is the virtual absence of centralized power; in other words, chaos.
The civil war within the country has been going on since the distant 1991. As a result, the state was divided into 5 independent territories, each of which is under the control of the paramilitary formations’ heads.
Most of the population professes Islam (Sharia law is in force in the country), and local residents have an openly intolerant attitude towards Christians.
Tourists in Somalia definitely have nothing to do: there have been a lot of cases of foreigners being kidnapped for ransom. Moreover, in anticipation of the coveted fee, the pirates behave with the hostages in a completely non-gentlemanly way – women are raped, and men are beaten, sometimes to death.
Iraq
In this country, the main division of the terrorist group “Al-Qaeda” is located. In this regard, terrorist attacks and military conflicts often occur in Iraq. It is doubly disappointing that there are many cultural monuments and historical heritage located on the territory of the country, which, as a result of hostilities between allied troops and militants, received serious damage.
Syria
Given the latest world events, Syria becomes the winner of today’s rating: since 2011, 60,000 civilians have died on the state’s territory. Despite the fact that Russian troops, together with the federal forces of Assad, are ousting the militants, the current state of affairs can in no way be described as calm and peaceful:
- Active formations of Al-Qaeda and ISIS militants still remain on the country’s territory.
- Local bloody clashes take place.
- Many areas are mined.
So, here’s something for you to ponder when you sit down to make travel plans next time. Safe travels.