The summer season is nearly upon us, bringing with it carefully-planned family vacations to the farthest corners of the globe. As prospective travelers sit down to come up with their vacation itineraries, however, they might want to factor in the various travel warnings in effect against several international destinations.
More recently, the U.S. State Department has issued warnings about visiting both North Korea and Burkina Faso. With this recent announcement, the U.S. now has a total of 21 countries that carry the “Do Not Travel” warning: the highest advisory level used by the State Department.
In particular, the U.S.
advises
due to “the persistent significant danger of arrest, prolonged detention, and the possibility of unjust imprisonment.” Since the U.S. lacks strong diplomatic relations with North Korea, the State Department has cautioned travelers that “they will be unable to offer immediate assistance to American citizens who find themselves in North Korea during an emergency.”
Likewise, the State Department has
warned
against visiting Burkina Faso “due to terrorism, crime, and kidnapping.” The West African nation has experienced a recent spike in terrorist operations, with the State Department stating, “Terrorists may attack anywhere with little or no warning and may utilize various tactics including the use of common, commercially available items or the use of kidnapping for ransom.”
With both nations obtaining a Level 4 travel warning in the U.S., both North Korea and Burkina Faso have now been characterized as two of the most dangerous places for U.S. citizens to travel to.
Similar alerts are issued by the U.S. for numerous countries around the world, such as Yemen, Iran, Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine, Haiti, Venezuela, Somalia, Russia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Currently, the U.S. has four tiers within its travel advisory system: Level 1 indicates “Exercise Normal Precautions,” Level 2 means “Increase Vigilance,” Level 3 advises “Consider Re-routing Your Trip,” and Level 4 warns against all non-essential international travel with “Avoid All Travel.”
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