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The most dangerous countries to visit in the world

Tourists lay flowers in memory of those killed by a jihadist gunman on the beach in front of the Riu Imperial Marhaba Hotel in Tunisia: Getty
Tourists lay flowers in memory of those killed by a jihadist gunman on the beach in front of the Riu Imperial Marhaba Hotel in Tunisia: Getty

The results of an inquest into the killing of 38 holiday makers in Sousse two years ago at the hands of terrorist Seifedine Rezgui has once more brought into sharp focus the dangers tourists can face when travelling to countries where there are potential threats of terrorism or unrest.

Travel company Tui is facing a civil lawsuit for negligence by the families of those killed in Tunisia in the attack, accusing the operator of not doing enough to warn holidaymakers before they booked their trips to the area of the dangers in the country. There had been a fatal terrorist attack in the country’s capital of Tunis just three months before Rezgui’s own.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is constantly updating its travel advice for British nationals travelling abroad based on the risks of terrorism, civil unrest and natural disasters facing a country or territory. At the time of the Sousse attack, the FCO warned of a high threat of terrorism. Tui's managing director Nick Longman said the company is "so very sorry for the pain ad loss those affected have suffered."

At the time of writing, there are five countries that the FCO has applied a blanket advisory against any travel to anywhere in the nations, which are: Central African Republic, Libya, South Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.

The British government is not able to provide any form of assisted travel to British nationals in Yemen and there are no evacuation procedures in place. The situation in Syria “remains extremely volatile and dangerous” due to widespread military operations and fighting, and the FCO is not able to help with evacuation from the country, the advisory states. In South Sudan, there are daily reports of fighting throughout the country and the British Embassy is operating under reduced staffing.

Libya’s Government of National Accord is working to restore stability in the country but there is still a high threat of terrorist attacks and kidnap against foreigners, while the Central African Republic continues to see reports of violence, reprisal killings, looting and human rights abuses across the country, the travel advisory states.

There are 32 countries and territories in which the FCO advises against any form of travel in parts of the nation and against all but essential travel in other regions. Some countries, such as Iraq and Chad, have travel advisories covering the entire territory, while others have warnings in place across small parts of the regions, such as Ukraine and where it borders with Russia, or Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, as it includes an advisory against travelling to Gaza.

The countries currently affected by these warnings are: Afghanistan, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chad, Cameroon, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Ecuador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Egypt, Georgia, Iraq, Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories, Iran, Lebanon, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Niger, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Western Sahara.

A further 13 countries have warnings to avoid all but essential travel to parts of the country. Again, some of the warnings relate to borders with countries where it is advised not to travel to, such as Kenya, where the FCO’s travel advisory covers the border with Somalia. The countries with this warning in parts of the area are: Angola, Bangladesh, Burma, Columbia, Cote D’Ivoire, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Laos, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Thailand and Uganda.