When you’re planning your holidays this summer, it’s likely you’re looking for somewhere with a nice stretch of beach, maybe a city full of history with good food, or perhaps a destination with a decent party strip.
But you’re probably not seeking out a holiday where you’re going to be in danger a lot of the time. Well, unless you’re some kind of extremist travel thrill-seeker, I guess.
So, when you are looking at going abroad, it’s wise to check out where the government advises against.
The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has what is described as a ‘red list’ with over 25 of the world’s most dangerous countries strongly warned against.
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And while that doesn’t necessarily totally ban you from going, there may be consequences of travelling to them.
From political conflicts and safety concerns to natural disasters, there are several reasons Brits may be recommended to keep clear of certain places.
The FCDO has over 70 countries flagged as having no-go zones out of the 226 countries or territories with foreign travel advice pages.
And 25 courntries in particular have been listed based on various global risk assessments as they are consistently ranked as extreme or high risk.
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Contributing to this ‘red list’, in alpahebtical order, they are as follows: Afghanistan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Mayotte, Mozambique, New Caledonia, Niger, North Korea, Russia, Somalia, Somaliland, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Yemen.
In particular, the FCDO advises against all travel to Afghanistan, Belarus, Haiti, Iran, Russia, South Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.
Reasons for this include ‘volatile’ security situations, ‘significant risk of arrest’, and ‘unpredictable’ security conditions.
If you ignore FCDO travel advice and go to countries such as the ones on the ‘red list’, you may face several issues.
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Primarily, it’s your travel insurance that will be impacted but of course, as those warnings tell you when you’re booking a holiday, not having travel insurance can be particularly risky.
If you go against advice, it’s likely your travel insurance policy will be invalidated.
Therefore, you’re going be left without coverage for incidents probably likely to why that warning was given like emergencies, medical treatment, cancellations, or evacuations.
Plus, if you end up in a situation where you may be arrested, put in detention or suffer a serious injury, the British embassy or officials may be limited in how they can help.
The FCDO says it doesn’t outright abandon citizens but its support may be constrained – especially if you’re somewhere where the government is hostile to the UK.
Jess Battison