Safety and Scams

The Department of State has issued a Travel Alert stating that while millions of people safely visit Mexico each year, violence in that country has increased.

Unnecessary travel to parts of Michoacán and Chihuahua should be delayed. Mexican drug cartels are engaged in violent conflict, both among themselves and with Mexican security services, along the US-Mexico border. Criminals have followed and harassed US citizens in their vehicles in border areas, including Nuevo Laredo, Matamoros and Tijuana. 

Nine foreigners (German, British and South Korean) were kidnapped while picnicking in the Saada area of northern Yemen in mid-June. Seven of them were found dead and two of three children were found alive. No group has claimed responsibility. The victims worked with an international aid group that has a hospital in nearby Jebla.

The US Department of State advises deferring nonessential travel to Yemen, where the security threat level remains high due to terrorist activities. The government of Yemen has been battling al Houthi rebels in and around Saada intermittently since 2004.

On May 4, Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal resigned his post in protest of the reinstatement of the army chief whom he had fired May 3.

Dahal was a leader of the Maoist rebels and held his post as prime minister as part of a power-sharing agreement after the Maoists won the most seats in the 2008 elections. The Maoists have been seeking the absorption of 20,000 of their forces into the Nepalese military. Nepal’s President Ram Baran Yadav belongs to the opposite political party and countermanded the firing of the general, reinstating him.

The Department of State warns against travel to the Northern Province and most of the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. Since early January 2008, fighting between the Sri Lankan military, paramilitary groups and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has increased, and bombs in densely populated areas have killed dozens of civilians.

The Department of State warns that terrorist organizations, including Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), are active in Yemen. AQAP claimed responsibility for a Sept. 25 attack in Sana’a during which two gunmen fired on a bus with Yemeni security agents, wounding 10.

British motorcades in Sanaa were attacked on Oct. 6 and April 26. There have been other terrorist incidents.

On May 24, two US tourists and their Yemeni driver and translator were kidnapped near Sana’a.

The US Embassy issued a warning in Gaborone, Botswana, following six incidents of serious crime in July. Among these were a stabbing during an attempted robbery of a laptop computer; the theft of a handbag from a vehicle, and the attempted theft of a cell phone from a tourist at Riverwalk Mall (local shoppers caught the thief). 

The Kgale Hill and Gaborone Dam areas are high crime areas where gangs of criminals target individuals or groups. The embassy suggests traveling there in very large groups with many strong individuals.

The Somalian terrorist group Al Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the suicide bombers who killed 74 people and injured 70 at two locations in Kampala, Uganda, on July 11. The bombing occurred days before a meeting, within Kampala, of the African Union leaders.

The AU responded by deciding to send thousands of additional peacekeepers to Somalia to fight the terrorists. The Al Shabaab group, linked with al-Qaida, has stated that the increase in troops will only reinforce their jihad. The US State Department has issued a travel alert for Uganda as well as Kenya.

In Ecuador, nonviolent crime is common, with hundreds of travelers robbed each year, but violent crime has been rising dramatically. Be alert at ATMs on streets as well as everywhere from beaches and hiking trails to crowded streets and markets, especially after dark.

The US Embassy in Togo released a report in May 2010.

Armed robbery of pedestrians is the most common crime, usually in urban centers. Robberies on beaches have increased; use only private beaches that provide security personnel, and avoid all beaches at night. Theft from vehicles stopped in traffic is becoming common, particularly where there is construction congestion; keep car doors locked when inside, and leave extra room to maneuver the car. 

In Nigeria, the US Department of State recommends avoiding the Niger Delta states of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers; the southeastern states of Abia, Edo and Imo, and the city of Jos in Plateau State, due to the risks of kidnapping, robbery and armed attacks. Crime committed by individuals and gangs, as well as by persons wearing police and military uniforms, is a problem throughout the country.

Since January 2009, over 111 foreign nationals have been kidnapped in Nigeria, including 18 in 2010. Of these, six were killed.