United States Department of State has placed 23 countries on its highest travel advisory, Level 4, urging American citizens to avoid travelling to the listed destinations due to severe security risks and limited consular assistance.
In an updated travel advisory published on its TravelGov X account, the department said Level 4 advisories are issued where local conditions are considered extremely dangerous or where the U.S. government has limited capacity to provide emergency assistance to its citizens.
“We issue Travel Advisories with Levels 1–4. Level 4 means ‘Do Not Travel.’ We assign Level 4 based on local conditions and/or our limited ability to help Americans there,” the department stated.
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It added: “These places are dangerous. Do not go for any reason.”
According to the advisory, 23 countries are currently designated as Level 4 destinations.
They include Afghanistan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Myanmar, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Niger, North Korea, Russia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Uganda, Ukraine and Yemen.
Of the countries listed, 11 are in Africa. They are Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, Mali, Niger, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda.
The State Department advised Americans to avoid travelling to these countries because of threats ranging from armed conflict and terrorism to civil unrest, kidnapping and other security concerns.
The latest update comes months after the U.S. retained Nigeria under its Level 3 advisory, urging Americans to reconsider travel to the country.
The department had also designated some Nigerian states as Level 4 destinations because of heightened security concerns in those areas.
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The U.S. travel advisory system classifies destinations into four levels: Level 1 (Exercise Normal Precautions), Level 2 (Exercise Increased Caution), Level 3 (Reconsider Travel), and Level 4 (Do Not Travel).
The advisories are reviewed periodically to reflect changing security, health and safety conditions around the world.
