Safety and Scams

I was in France in September-October 2013 and would like to warn travelers about something that was occurring in both Paris and Toulouse.

Cute teenage girls who were smiling brightly, well groomed and wearing the typical teenage attire of tight jeans and neat tops were approaching tourists and asking, “Do you speak English?”

If someone answered that he did, they would ask if he was against world hunger, cruelty to animals or some other such issue. Of course, he would say that he WAS against such things.

The US Department of State reports that tens of thousands of US citizens safely visit Venezuela each year but points out that violent crime in Venezuela is pervasive, both in the capital, Caracas, and in the interior. 

According to the nongovernmental organization Venezuelan Violence Observatory, there were 21,692 homicides in Venezuela in 2012, amounting to a rate of 73 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, among the highest in the world. In Caracas, the homicide rate is even higher, at 122 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.

The security situation in Chad has slowly but steadily improved since the conclusion of a peace agreement between Sudan and Chad in early 2010. Despite recent stability, the security environment is historically volatile and could deteriorate unexpectedly. The US Department of State recommends avoiding travel to eastern Chad and border regions. 

The Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi was attacked by Al Shabaab terrorists, who held shoppers hostage and fought a 4-day siege with Kenyan security forces, Sept. 21-24. Although more than 1,000 people were successfully evacuated, at least 67 people were killed, both Kenyan and foreign, with many wounded and an estimated 39 still missing in the rubble once the fighting stopped. 

The northeast region of Nigeria continues to suffer attacks from the Islamist militant group Boko Haram. In three attacks during September, 43 students at an agricultural college were killed, 14 persons were killed when travelers on a main road were stopped, and, at a military outpost, 143 civilians, three police officers and two soldiers were killed. 

Boko Haram proclaims it targets schools, the military and Westerners in their effort to create an Islamic state in Nigeria and allow only Islamic schools. 

The Department of State warns against all nonessential travel to Pakistan. The presence of several foreign and indigenous terrorist groups poses a potential danger to travelers throughout Pakistan. Attacks have included armed assaults on heavily guarded sites, including Pakistani military installations. Terrorist groups continue to seek opportunities to attack locations where Westerners are known to congregate or visit. Terrorists and criminal groups regularly resort to kidnapping for ransom.

The US Department of State reminds travelers that crime and violence levels in El Salvador remain critically high. 

Transnational criminal organizations conduct narcotics and arms trafficking throughout the country and use violence to control drug-trafficking routes and carry out other criminal activity. Other criminals commit crimes such as murder-for-hire, carjacking, extortion, armed robbery, rape and other aggravated assaults. 

The Department of State continues to warn of the high threat of terrorism and kidnappings in Algeria. The majority of terrorist attacks, including bombings, false roadblocks, kidnappings and ambushes, occur in areas of the country east and south of Algiers.

Nearly two dozen US embassies and consulates in the Middle East and North Africa were closed for Sunday, Aug. 4, after the Department of State intercepted communications among suspected terrorists about a possible attack. It was then announced that 15 of those posts plus an additional four would remain closed until Saturday, Aug. 10.

The US Department of State reminds travelers that tens of thousands of people visit Honduras each year without incident but that Honduras has the highest murder rate in the world. Crime and violence are serious problems countrywide. (See Jan. ’13, pg. 16.)