Terrorism mapped: After the British Yemen embassy is evacuated which countries have the highest threat level and where is it safest to travel?

The US, Britain and France have closed their embassies in Yemen and urged their citizens to leave the country after Shia rebels secured a power-grab in the country last week. Yemen has now been given a “high” rating for the likelihood of a terror attack, with the UK Home Office advising against all travel to the country.

 

The above map shows where the Home Office has designated terror threats to be at their highest. The ratings are broad for this map, but the Foreign Office often goes into more detail, breaking down countries by regions. For example, in Afghanistan, travelling to some areas is not advised at all, while in other places it is not advised unless travel is essential. In Syria, however, no travel is advised for any reason in any region. 

 

Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan are all on the “high” list as you’d probably have guessed, considering the political climate in each of those countries. Less expected is that France is considered in the same bracket as those countries, having been given a “high” rating since the devastating Charlie Hebdo attacks last month. 

 

Of course, the chances of falling victim to a terror attack can’t be your only safety concern when looking to travel. Mexico may have a low rating for terror, but a sightseeing trip to Cuidad Juarez – the gang-violence engulfed Mexican city with a homicide rate of 40 per 100,000 – is hardly advised.

 

Just because there's no terrorism in a country does not make it safe, as demonstrated in the below map demonstrating number of homicides per 100,000.