Libya, Mali, Somalia among most dangerous countries to visit in 2020
Slovenia is one of the safest destinations to visit, according to International SOS. Image: Istock.com/AleksandarGeorgiev via AFP Relaxnews.
In their “Travel Risk Map,” medical and security experts at International SOS have identified the riskiest countries for travelers in the coming year across categories like medical safety, security and road safety, color-coding countries by level of risk.
Countries like Libya, Mali, South Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Yemen are among some of the countries that have been categorized under “Extreme Travel Security Risk,” where government control and law and order may be minimal or non-existent across large areas.
“Serious threat of violent attacks by armed groups targeting travelers and international assignees. Government and transport services are barely functional. Large parts of the country are inaccessible to foreigners,” the experts stated.
According to the map, the safest travel destinations where travel security risks are “insignificant” are Norway, Finland, Denmark, Greenland, Slovenia and Switzerland.
High travel medical risks
It is not just political unrest, terrorism and petty crime that travelers should consider when choosing their destinations.
Some countries pose higher medical risks than others, be it limited or virtually non-existent healthcare, dental services or primary care; the prevalence of food and waterborne-infections; or hotspots for outbreaks of life-threatening infectious diseases like malaria or cholera.
Countries that carry “very high travel medical risks” include many of the same countries deemed most dangerous for security, including Libya, Somalia, Yemen, South Sudan, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Other medically unsafe countries include Niger, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Venezuela. Predictably, Western and developed countries pose the least medical risk. RGA
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