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The United States Department of State has placed 23 countries on its highest-risk travel advisory, Level 4, urging Americans to avoid all travel to those destinations for any reason.
In an updated advisory seen on Saturday on the department’s TravelGov X account, the agency said Level 4 is assigned to countries where local conditions are considered dangerous or where the US government’s ability to assist its citizens is limited.
“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.
“These places are dangerous. Do not go for any reason,” the department said.
The 11 African countries on the Level 4 list are Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya, Mali, Niger, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda.
Countries on the US Level 4 ‘Do Not Travel’ advisory are:
Afghanistan
Belarus
Burkina Faso
Burma (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
Yemen
The latest advisory comes months after the State Department retained Nigeria at Level 3: Reconsider Travel, while designating several Nigerian states as Level 4: Do Not Travel because of security concerns.
The Level 4 states include Borno, Jigawa, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Plateau, Taraba, Yobe and northern Adamawa in the North, as well as Abia, Anambra, Bayelsa, Delta, Enugu, Imo and Rivers (excluding Port Harcourt) in the South South and South East.
According to the advisory, Americans are urged to reconsider travel to Nigeria because of crime, terrorism, kidnapping, civil unrest and inconsistent healthcare services, while travel to the designated Level 4 states is strongly discouraged.
Reacting to the advisory, the Nigerian government described the US decision as a “routine precaution guided by internal protocols that does not reflect the country’s overall security situation.”
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said although Nigeria faces “isolated security challenges, there is no breakdown of law and order,” adding that the country remains stable.
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