Australia Upgrades Travel Advice To The UK Over Terrorism Threat
Australia has updated advice for those travelling to the UK due to threats of terrorism.
The Australian government website, Smartraveller has warned Australians heading to the UK that they should ‘exercise a high degree of caution', and has moved the warning colour from green to yellow.
According to the website, level 1 (green) says that travellers can exercise 'normal' safety precautions.
Whereas level 2 (yellow), travellers must have a ‘high degree of caution', and level 3 (orange) advises Australians to ‘reconsider’ travel.
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However, level 4 (red) strictly warns Aussies to not travel to the region.
The website also advises Australians when travelling to countries deemed a level 2 risk to be super vigilant and ‘monitor’ the media for updates.
It adds: “At level 2, there are more or higher risks than what you would typically find in a large Australian city. We're not saying 'don't go' to this location.
"But you should do your research and take extra precautions.”
It continues: “In some cases, there may be a risk that the security environment could change with little warning.
“This level may also reflect a passing event, such as political unrest or a short-term increase in a location's domestic terrorism level.”
The UK has moved from green to yellow, joining countries such as Greece, Peru, France, USA and Indonesia, according to 9 News.
The travel updates come after the UK’s anti-terrorism strategy faces backlash ahead of its review.
UN special rapporteur Fionnuala Ni Aolain said the strategy had a ‘negative and discriminatory effect on Muslim communities’ and how its enforced breaches human rights, according to The Express Tribune.
While she acknowledges that not every Muslim felt the negative impacts of the strategy, ‘minority ethnic or religious communities’ are mainly being targeted.
The BBC reports that while appearing on the Political Thinking podcast, human rights activist Dame Sara Khan slammed the strategy as being ‘outdated’ and guilty of honing in on specific religious groups.
She said: “Good policy has to be ideologically blind … There’s far right, Islamist, Sikh, there’s Hindu nationalism, there’s all different types of extremism, there’s far left, for example.
"You’ve got to deal with all of those types of problems, and only trying to focus on one at the expense of others is totally counterproductive.”
Charisa Bossinakis