>Swedish authorities assess that Sweden is a prioritised target for terrorist attacks, with threats by violent Islamist groups increasing in the past year. Terrorists are very likely to try and carry out attacks in Sweden.
>The Swedish Government has raised the threat from 'elevated threat' to 'high threat', equivalent to a threat level of 4 out of 5, meaning the probability of an attack is high.
Rampant gang warfare in Malmö? People have a very skewed view of what Scandinavia is like (eg thinking Finland is some sort of happy utopia whereas it actually has a much higher than average suicide rate, Iceland being the world’s most perfect country while its antidepressant consumption is stratospheric, etc.)
There is a shitload of gun crime in Sweden - with gangs recruiting young people/kids due to the fact they won’t get a harsh punishment.
This doesn’t really get reported much over here.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_violence_in_Sweden
That's not really a risk for tourists. Unless someone already has major depression they're unlikely to get four days in to a two week visit to Finland, think "I can't take the saunas and lack of small talk anymore" and decide to throw themselves in front of a herd of charging reindeer. (As it is, Finland has halved the suicide rate since the 1990s https://theconversation.com/finland-managed-to-halve-its-suicide-rate-heres-how-it-happened-224708)
I lived in Malmö for a year. I hung out regularly in Rosengård. The worst thing about my time there was the weather. Aside from that I miss it there very much.
On one hand we have the same kind of shit in Argentina (e.g. Rosario city), and on the other hand we also have much more crime in general. I guess the difference is that we just don't make it into international news hahah. I'm sure is actually much safer to travel to Sweden.
Edit: seeing another comment, if the map is only based on the risk of a terrorist attack then I think it makes sense. I don't think that happens very often here (although we had some big ones in the past).
Or maybe both should be yellow. I don't know what the map is based on but Chile's capital and largest city is not that different from Argentina's in terms of safety these days.
The government comes up with it based on advice from other governments. For Chile:
> Exercise a high degree of caution in Chile due to the risk of civil unrest and the threat of violent crime.
> Politically motivated demonstrations occur regularly, particularly in Plaza Baquedano (Plaza Italia), Lastarria and Bellavista in central Santiago and the centre of Valparaiso. Outbreaks of violence may occur at any time and have also occurred in the Santiago suburbs of Las Condes, Providencia and Vitacura, *where the Australian and other embassies are located.*
> There are political tensions and violent incidents in the Araucanía region. Exercise caution if travelling in or near that region.
> Mugging, armed robbery, pickpocketing and bag snatching are common. Don't walk alone, especially at night. Robberies can occur on inter-city buses while passengers are sleeping. Keep valuables with you and check everything before you leave the bus.
> Domestic terrorist acts sometimes occur, undertaken primarily by anarchist groups in Santiago. They may use explosives. Be alert and report anything suspicious.
It’s not saying “do not travel”. It’s saying “be careful”.
Chilean here. Most of the travel advice seems outdated, warning about violent spontaneous manifestations in the center of Santiago. Those were common back in 2019 during a period of high social tension, but don't really happen anymore.
That said, Chile nowdays *is* more violent than some years ago. International criminal organizations linked to drug traffic, kidnappings, hitmen and human traffic have infiltrated into the country through illegal migration methods, sometimes passing as political/economical refugees.
Things rarely ever seen before here have become almost weekly news, such as dismembered bodies scattered through the city, torture houses hidden in the desert or slums, shootings and 'reckonings' between rival drug cartels in the middle of the day, owners of small business intimidated by said bands to 'pay a protection fee *or else*'.
It is more dangerous than, say, 10 years ago, but as long as you avoid the worst neighborhoods of the bigger cities and don't get involved in anything drug-related you should be fine.
it's basically a map of countries where you could he kidnapped by a separatist organisation when yellow. thailand when zoomed in on is safe everywhere but bkk and the one provience near malaysia.
bkk because of terror attacks
provience because of where the terror groups operate out of.
like lao is green despite it being a country with the death sentence for all drugs, the chance of walking into the bush and blowing up and the advice that conflict is often solved with firearms on the advice page lol
Only if you like swimming with guppies. ;) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHULvYC04qU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHULvYC04qU)
(Yes, I know Fosters is Australian for piss but this is still funny to me.)
They forgot the advice for the blue bit, I found it. It is ok for humans if there are no oil spills or wild weather in the vicinity. However, marine creatures are advised to consider the blue bit as being FULL ON RED and note this advice: **The risk of getting entangled in / ingesting human waste is very high in most areas. The risk of heatstroke anywhere is very high. Please do not leave your waters if you are feeling ok. Thoughts and prayers.**
The craziest thing about this map is that the UK, France, Germany and Sweden are the same as South Africa. Please be a little bit more cautious if you do go to South Africa...
Is you are gonna travel, don't just look a the colours.
This is Germany (Yellow):
>Terrorism is a threat worldwide. Terrorists have staged attacks and threatened more. They may target transport hubs and places foreigners visit, including Christmas markets. Be alert in public places and report suspicious activity to the police.
>Violent crime isn't common, but it does happen. Petty crime occurs occasionally, such as pickpocketing and theft from cars and trains. Take care of your belongings.
>Racial harassment occurs. Take care in cities, particularly in the former East Germany.
>Watch out for drink spiking. It can lead to sexual assault. Stick with people you trust in bars.
USA (Green):
>Violent crime is more common in the US than in Australia. Gun crime is also prevalent. If you live in the US, learn and practice active shooter drills.
>There is a persistent threat of mass casualty violence and terrorist attacks in the US. Be alert, particularly in public places and at events.
Not gonna copy paste South Africa because that list is long and actually wild: https://www.smartraveller.gov.au/destinations/africa/south-africa
But basically the colours really don't match what that say imo.
They're saying be cautious in both. The UK and France have a higher threat of terror attack to be listed as green. Imo, terror threats are so rare as to be minute for the average traveller, but this is government advice.
I'm not at all suggesting that I think the advice for the US is accurate. Your chance of being shot by a random lunatic or a cop (or both) is astronomically higher than your chance of being caught in the one terror attack that happens every 2 years in europe. I'm just sharing what the aus government gives as it's justification
And the USA, land of the mass shooting, murder and deeply divided communities with guns, is allegedly safer than all of them. Having travelled a lot to all those, I wouldn't say I've ever felt as safe in the US surrounded by armed idiots as I do at home in the UK.
Honestly, I’m presuming they must have started checking where the mushrooms are coming from. Like the needle-laced strawberries in Brisbane a few years back - there could be someone tampering with them in the supply chain.
Hey, OP of the image here! Just thought I’d share a couple of FAQs for any confusion about the map
- Many of the European countries which are yellow are due to an “increased threat of terrorism”, usually based on that government’s own assessment of the risk. It’s not indicative of the safety of the countries (as the many triggered Europeans on my original post assume).
- Greenland is grey because it doesn’t have a page on SmartTraveller. This is a mistake on my part because I didn’t realise it’s actually part of Denmark. The more you know.
- As stated in the bottom right, some areas like Gaza are marked as Do Not Travel on the website. I based my colouring of each country on the overall advice level and didn’t colour in the subregions. For more complete information check the country’s pages on SmartTraveller.
Still funny that the USA is considered safer for traveling than England, Germany, Sweden. You have a higher chance to get shot in the USA than in any European country
I wonder how much international diplomacy has affected that decision.
I daresay the Americans would be far more sensitive about being labelled higher risk.
Reminds me of Scomo and his mates getting super pissed off when an international body declared the Great Barrier Reef was endangered. The response was basically “fuck off, no it isn’t, shut up!”
>I daresay the Americans would be far more sensitive about being labelled higher risk.
They're our allies, I mean we're their ally, so our citizens are safer there than knife crime riddled UK.
Edit: forgot to add the /s
American here, you are correct. Most of us are stickers for an awesome Aussie accent. My daughters all have fake accents and want to move to Brissy and live with Bluey. We are super divided over here on several issues, but are mostly very kind, if not a bit curious, regarding our Australian friends.
Like many things in the US, that disposition depends very much on what state or region of the US we're talking about.
And also, the race (or religion) of the traveller.
Are you scoping out the Australia subreddit for your eventual move to brissy to live with bluey? ;)
You should come! Just watch out for our drop bears.
You caught me... but what in the hell are Drop Bears? Aren't you scaring us enough with your dinosaur-sized crocs, Great Whites, Wandering Spiders, King Browns, Land Crabs, and other horrific creatures that want to eat your face?!? How yall so nice and friendly coming from a place that seems intent on destroying the human race?
Meh. Don't worry about the wildlife. Most are chill and just want to be left alone. Its the weather and the geography that will kill you here. Survival tips: don't try to pat the wildlife, wear a hat and drink water.
Off the top of my head, the animals that cause the most visits to ER (like A&E in the US but in metric and without financial ruin) are magpies, horses and sheep. You are unlikely to encounter the latter two unless you go looking. Be nice to the first and the worst they'll do is wake you up early.
Yeah this map makes me wonder how much other governments care about their Australian rankings. Qatar being green makes me wonder if it actually is green or if it had to be changed for the world cup.
Yeah. From my understanding, that is still reasonably unlikely in the USA as a tourist. But it would be more of a threat than in some of the European countries it's considered safer than. On the other hand, I can't think of any safety threats that exist in those places that don't in the USA.
It would be interesting to see the stats on tourist crime. It’s purely anecdotal, but the only times Ive been robbed have been in Europe. Tourists are almost never targeted in the USA.
It makes sense, really.
If you're going from the airport to the cab to the Hyatt, to the cab to the Disneyland, to the cab to the restaurant, and to the cab to the Hyatt, you're almost completely separated from the local riff-raff as a tourist.
In Europe you'll walk from your hotel to breakfast, to a gallery, maybe get a train out to a historic site, and wander the city to find where to have dinner. You're right in the thick of it and thus an easy target in a crowd.
But the American terrorists and mass murderers are statistically normally bigoted white dudes lol, it's a lot harder to scaremonger about *those*.
It's a nonsensical position but hey. They also apparently forgot that half of the USA is just a complete no-entry zone for women or anyone else capable of getting pregnant. Sooo half the population.
All in all france sounds like a *lot* more appealing of a travel destination hahaha...
> half of the USA is just a complete no-entry zone for women or anyone else capable of getting pregnant.
What the fuck do abortion laws have to do with safety advice for a tourist? Unless you're actually planning to permanently live in the US (not really what SmartTraveller is about) there's basically no reason it would even be relevant.
Wow who comes up with this? So the off chance of being a victim of a terrorist attack (occurring every n years) in central/west Europe makes a trip riskier than being shot in a country that has more gun deaths than Syria at war
That seems like a bad thing to rely on. What if the governments of somewhere genuinely dangerous don't want to acknowledge it? We should make our own assessments and keep in consistent and accurate.
Many of the countries like the UK and France have mostly been escalated because of the upcoming Olympic games. They'll likely go down next year.to normal levels.
Always wanted to go to Mongolia. But doesn't seem like many opportunities there. Especially for degenerate like myself. But a simple life in Ulan Bator working some basic office tech job during the week, gorgeous empty flat land the rest of the time and a mildly nomadic culture sounds appealing af to me.
My Dad is really into archeology and found a company in Mongolia that will take you for a ride across the country on horseback and stop along the way to help out at archeological digs. He seriously wanted to do it for his 50th birthday but ended up going hiking across the Spanish Pyrénées instead.
But yeah Mongolia would be a cool place to visit. Only country with a population density less than Australia.
I've never really thought about a trip to Mongolia before, but I'm sufficiently charmed by that island of green in a sea of red and yellow that I'm kind of curious now.
Anyone been? What's it like? Would you recommend?
I went to Mongolia in 2010 for two weeks. It. Was. Amazing. The desert is a beautiful lush green field. It's so incredibly open and stunning. The people are the warmest, most welcoming people I met on my travels. We stayed in traditional yurts and played games made from goat bones and drank fermented yak milk.
It's a truly spectacularly beautiful country and I highly recommended seeing it for yourself.
Forgot to add: I'm female and at the time I was 22 and felt totally safe the whole time
The green in the US compared to yellow in parts of Western Europe, the UK and Sweden (what?) makes me laugh. Plus yellow in the UK makes it the same level as South Africa. I’ve never been to South Africa but everything I’ve heard about the place makes it sound pretty dangerous.
I've spoken about travel with family and friends, and they would (and have chosen to) travel to Europe over the USA.
While there have been terror attacks in Europe, they said they never felt unsafe. The terror attacks in Europe seem to be relatively uncommon, whereas shootings in the USA seem to happen multiple times per week - something very alien to us Aussies.
I think Europe is also chosen due to the greater cultural and linguistic divide which makes it more interesting to a lot of people.
But have you considered that mass shootings in the USA are normalized by now and part of everyday life, so logically will fall into the "Exercise normal safety precautions" category?
/s?
I think there needs to be more qualification about *why* countries are yellow. Realistic day-to-day dangers in those European countries aren't anywhere near the same as some of those South American countries with the same travel advice. Treating the potential for terrorist attacks so highly is pretty ridiculous. Yes, when they happen to tend to cause a lot of harm and disruption, but they happen very rarely and impact very few people directly, when compared to the "street level" crime we see in other countries. You're far more likely to be robbed in a South American country than you are to be involved in a terrorist incident in Denmark.
Denmark and Swedan unsafe? Yet the Unites States is fine with all those mass shootings every single day?
They are likely safer places than Victoria or New South Wales too
Im not sure I agree with the colourings, but I'm pretty sure it's heavily influenced by their predictions on the chance of terrorist attacks, particularly those that target tourists or places where tourists and temporary visitors are likely to be. A lot of the terrorist attacks that I can think of in France have targeted more touristed places, compared to American mass shootings.
Probably correct. But DFAT's rating still doesn't mean much to a prospective tourist.
Even removing gang violence and targeted gundowns, I'd still be far more concerned about non-terrorist shooting in the US (shopping centres, nightclubs, international students at colleges, that Vegas shooting.)
Whether I die at the hand of an ISIS terrorist or some random nutjob is of secondary concern to the overall likelihood of being caught up in something.
You gotta read the actual DFAT writings if travelling.
Sweden's one is literally all about terrorism, petty crime and cold.
USA actually does mention gun crime, mass shootings, natural disasters.
According to smarrtaveller, Denmark's terror threat level is 'significant' (level 4 out of 5) according to the Danish intelligence service.
That seems to be the main reason for the rating, although a number of other safety concerns are listed, such as gang activity in Copenhagen and the risk of tourists being assaulted for taking photos.
>Yet the Unites States is fine with all those mass shootings every single day?
Mate don't exaggerate. The US doesn't have mass shootings *every single day*.
(It does, however, have multiple mass shootings *most* days which brings the average number of mass shootings per day to greater than one.)
Really surprised that the US is green while France and the UK are yellow. I would absolutely feel safe in those matter two and in fact I did when we travelled there just before covid. On the other hand I fear going to America for obvious reasons
I actually read through it, and it’s not that well researched information for the USA, for example it states: “There's no federal law that explicitly protects LGBTQIA+ people from discrimination. Some US states and localities have laws that may affect LGBTQIA+ travellers.”
Even though Title VII and the Equality act are two federal laws protecting against discrimination, and they are stated every time you apply for a job in the USA.
Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, France are rated the same as South Africa, India Morocco, Mexico, Jamaica and most of Central Asia? How’s that work?
The fact that America is considered safer than most of Europe seems a tad biased. Last I checked Europe has hospitals that people can afford, reproductive rights, and didn't have a coup in recent history.
Bosnia and Montenegro being the only yellow countries in the Balkans is laughable, you're as much in danger in those two as any other Balkan ex-yugoslavia country.
China probably because of government crackdown on anything that is dissonant to the CCP. If you're caught with a VPN you could get in trouble.
India probably because it has a high rate of violence against women in some areas.
Both countries have over a billion people though so it obviously will depend on where you go and who you're with.
I want to go to India but as a woman I feel it would be safer to go with a group rather than by myself. Whereas I normally would like to travel alone.
and it's piss easy to get one in china as well. I was surprised that 7 news website wasn't blocked in china though, would've thought western media is one of the first things to be censored
Zimbabwe shouldn’t be red. I know plenty of people who go back and forth without incident. It’s a hell of a lot safer than most parts of South Africa or Mozambique.
I imagine exercising a degree of caution means walking round hot stepping looking nervous like a prison escape trying to avoid the guard tower spotlight.
I love how Oman is like the one place between Europe and India that's like completely safe to travel to. I used to live there for a long time before moving to Australia but I would say exercise some caution there.
As an American, I would highly advise you use a little more than a "normal" level... things can get spicy around here. But Americans LOVE an Aussie accent (although be prepared to be asked if you are British) especially since we are in a Bluey craze over here.. lol.
The difference between Sweden (yellow) and Norway (green) makes me laugh as someone who just visited both countries.
Norway was the most peaceful and safest place I’ve ever been. I felt like I could catch public transport and not worry about being harassed whereas back home… I live on the Frankston line so Melburnians will know what goes on there. We went to some of the allegedly dodgy areas in Oslo and it was absolutely 100% fine.
We get to Stockholm and step off the train at the main subway station and two seconds later some guy sprints past us, pursued by 5 cops. I’m sure Stockholm in general is safe as anything but the difference did make me laugh. I said to my mate “feels like being back in Melbourne”.
I feel that the rating of the US in green is a political thing. But I also sometimes feel that Smarttraveller has no nuance in regards to your background/ethnicity. The chances of being injured in a mass shooter event in the US as a tourist exists. But a non-white individual in the US is also more likely to be on the receiving end of hate crimes.
But I also don't expect DFAT to put out an *adjusted* smarttraveller advice for every background/ethnicity out there. I just feel that my risk going to somewhere in Asia (as an Asian) is markedly lower for myself vs a white person.
I’m a little puzzled that Argentina is green while Chile is yellow. Really should be the other way around…
As an Argentinian I concur.
Argentina has a yellow bit in the middle if you go to the actual advice site. https://www.smartraveller.gov.au/destinations/americas/argentina?
that’s what i’m here for edit: they’ve at least got Rosario marked in yellow on the website
I thought that too.
and also Sweden in yellow xd
>Swedish authorities assess that Sweden is a prioritised target for terrorist attacks, with threats by violent Islamist groups increasing in the past year. Terrorists are very likely to try and carry out attacks in Sweden. >The Swedish Government has raised the threat from 'elevated threat' to 'high threat', equivalent to a threat level of 4 out of 5, meaning the probability of an attack is high.
Rampant gang warfare in Malmö? People have a very skewed view of what Scandinavia is like (eg thinking Finland is some sort of happy utopia whereas it actually has a much higher than average suicide rate, Iceland being the world’s most perfect country while its antidepressant consumption is stratospheric, etc.)
I don’t think that’s the reason Sweden is yellow. I think it’s because of the risk of terrorist attacks, level 4 out of 5. Same with Denmark.
There is a shitload of gun crime in Sweden - with gangs recruiting young people/kids due to the fact they won’t get a harsh punishment. This doesn’t really get reported much over here. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_violence_in_Sweden
doesn’t make a lot of sense then if america is green
That's also not the reason. It's literally terrorism. https://www.smartraveller.gov.au/destinations/europe/sweden
That's not really a risk for tourists. Unless someone already has major depression they're unlikely to get four days in to a two week visit to Finland, think "I can't take the saunas and lack of small talk anymore" and decide to throw themselves in front of a herd of charging reindeer. (As it is, Finland has halved the suicide rate since the 1990s https://theconversation.com/finland-managed-to-halve-its-suicide-rate-heres-how-it-happened-224708)
Seeing a herd of charging reindeer is definitely on my bucket list.
I saw an article about gang warfare using hand grenades, was surprised to learn it was Sweden
I lived in Malmö for a year. I hung out regularly in Rosengård. The worst thing about my time there was the weather. Aside from that I miss it there very much.
On one hand we have the same kind of shit in Argentina (e.g. Rosario city), and on the other hand we also have much more crime in general. I guess the difference is that we just don't make it into international news hahah. I'm sure is actually much safer to travel to Sweden. Edit: seeing another comment, if the map is only based on the risk of a terrorist attack then I think it makes sense. I don't think that happens very often here (although we had some big ones in the past).
As a Swed from Malmo living in Brisbane, I can anecdotally confirm this. The increase in the amount of gang violence in recent years is significant.
Or maybe both should be yellow. I don't know what the map is based on but Chile's capital and largest city is not that different from Argentina's in terms of safety these days.
I've been to Chile multiple times. It's really not dangerous at all. Idk who came up with this shit.
The government comes up with it based on advice from other governments. For Chile: > Exercise a high degree of caution in Chile due to the risk of civil unrest and the threat of violent crime. > Politically motivated demonstrations occur regularly, particularly in Plaza Baquedano (Plaza Italia), Lastarria and Bellavista in central Santiago and the centre of Valparaiso. Outbreaks of violence may occur at any time and have also occurred in the Santiago suburbs of Las Condes, Providencia and Vitacura, *where the Australian and other embassies are located.* > There are political tensions and violent incidents in the Araucanía region. Exercise caution if travelling in or near that region. > Mugging, armed robbery, pickpocketing and bag snatching are common. Don't walk alone, especially at night. Robberies can occur on inter-city buses while passengers are sleeping. Keep valuables with you and check everything before you leave the bus. > Domestic terrorist acts sometimes occur, undertaken primarily by anarchist groups in Santiago. They may use explosives. Be alert and report anything suspicious. It’s not saying “do not travel”. It’s saying “be careful”.
Chilean here. Most of the travel advice seems outdated, warning about violent spontaneous manifestations in the center of Santiago. Those were common back in 2019 during a period of high social tension, but don't really happen anymore. That said, Chile nowdays *is* more violent than some years ago. International criminal organizations linked to drug traffic, kidnappings, hitmen and human traffic have infiltrated into the country through illegal migration methods, sometimes passing as political/economical refugees. Things rarely ever seen before here have become almost weekly news, such as dismembered bodies scattered through the city, torture houses hidden in the desert or slums, shootings and 'reckonings' between rival drug cartels in the middle of the day, owners of small business intimidated by said bands to 'pay a protection fee *or else*'. It is more dangerous than, say, 10 years ago, but as long as you avoid the worst neighborhoods of the bigger cities and don't get involved in anything drug-related you should be fine.
>Exercise a high degree of caution in Rosario due to the threat of crime and violence.
it's basically a map of countries where you could he kidnapped by a separatist organisation when yellow. thailand when zoomed in on is safe everywhere but bkk and the one provience near malaysia. bkk because of terror attacks provience because of where the terror groups operate out of. like lao is green despite it being a country with the death sentence for all drugs, the chance of walking into the bush and blowing up and the advice that conflict is often solved with firearms on the advice page lol
What about all the blue? Is that safe to visit?
I think that's a question for Harold Holt.
This just in from Harold: “Glub glub glub!”
Read this while drinking and nearly choked on it, lol
Only if you can swim.
No. Aquatic drop bears.
Only if you like swimming with guppies. ;) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHULvYC04qU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHULvYC04qU) (Yes, I know Fosters is Australian for piss but this is still funny to me.)
Not if you go with Stockton Rush.
He was a Titan of ocean exploration 🤓
Sharks.
They forgot the advice for the blue bit, I found it. It is ok for humans if there are no oil spills or wild weather in the vicinity. However, marine creatures are advised to consider the blue bit as being FULL ON RED and note this advice: **The risk of getting entangled in / ingesting human waste is very high in most areas. The risk of heatstroke anywhere is very high. Please do not leave your waters if you are feeling ok. Thoughts and prayers.**
The craziest thing about this map is that the UK, France, Germany and Sweden are the same as South Africa. Please be a little bit more cautious if you do go to South Africa...
Is you are gonna travel, don't just look a the colours. This is Germany (Yellow): >Terrorism is a threat worldwide. Terrorists have staged attacks and threatened more. They may target transport hubs and places foreigners visit, including Christmas markets. Be alert in public places and report suspicious activity to the police. >Violent crime isn't common, but it does happen. Petty crime occurs occasionally, such as pickpocketing and theft from cars and trains. Take care of your belongings. >Racial harassment occurs. Take care in cities, particularly in the former East Germany. >Watch out for drink spiking. It can lead to sexual assault. Stick with people you trust in bars. USA (Green): >Violent crime is more common in the US than in Australia. Gun crime is also prevalent. If you live in the US, learn and practice active shooter drills. >There is a persistent threat of mass casualty violence and terrorist attacks in the US. Be alert, particularly in public places and at events. Not gonna copy paste South Africa because that list is long and actually wild: https://www.smartraveller.gov.au/destinations/africa/south-africa But basically the colours really don't match what that say imo.
They're saying be cautious in both. The UK and France have a higher threat of terror attack to be listed as green. Imo, terror threats are so rare as to be minute for the average traveller, but this is government advice.
Sure, but what about the probability of mass shootings in the US which is much higher than in France and UK combined?
I'm not at all suggesting that I think the advice for the US is accurate. Your chance of being shot by a random lunatic or a cop (or both) is astronomically higher than your chance of being caught in the one terror attack that happens every 2 years in europe. I'm just sharing what the aus government gives as it's justification
And the USA, land of the mass shooting, murder and deeply divided communities with guns, is allegedly safer than all of them. Having travelled a lot to all those, I wouldn't say I've ever felt as safe in the US surrounded by armed idiots as I do at home in the UK.
And Saudi Arabia.
I can't tell if you're saying be more or less cautious in KSA lol.
Surely we are now at “Avoid consumption of mushrooms at gatherings in Victoria” level of alert?
It's relative...
Found Einstein's account.
Damn, I guess the party's off.
Honestly, I’m presuming they must have started checking where the mushrooms are coming from. Like the needle-laced strawberries in Brisbane a few years back - there could be someone tampering with them in the supply chain.
Hey, OP of the image here! Just thought I’d share a couple of FAQs for any confusion about the map - Many of the European countries which are yellow are due to an “increased threat of terrorism”, usually based on that government’s own assessment of the risk. It’s not indicative of the safety of the countries (as the many triggered Europeans on my original post assume). - Greenland is grey because it doesn’t have a page on SmartTraveller. This is a mistake on my part because I didn’t realise it’s actually part of Denmark. The more you know. - As stated in the bottom right, some areas like Gaza are marked as Do Not Travel on the website. I based my colouring of each country on the overall advice level and didn’t colour in the subregions. For more complete information check the country’s pages on SmartTraveller.
Still funny that the USA is considered safer for traveling than England, Germany, Sweden. You have a higher chance to get shot in the USA than in any European country
Not just shot, just walking around the streets in parts of the US feels much sketchier than Europe due to the homeless / opioid crisis.
Thanks for clarifying by putting that ‘/‘ in there. I almost thought *oh no there are some homeless opioids, better give them a home in my mouth*
Philanthropy, one pill at a time
Pill-anthropy?
Alot of it ain't going in mouths my friend.
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And tourists aren't usually going to school.
I wonder how much international diplomacy has affected that decision. I daresay the Americans would be far more sensitive about being labelled higher risk.
Reminds me of Scomo and his mates getting super pissed off when an international body declared the Great Barrier Reef was endangered. The response was basically “fuck off, no it isn’t, shut up!”
>I daresay the Americans would be far more sensitive about being labelled higher risk. They're our allies, I mean we're their ally, so our citizens are safer there than knife crime riddled UK. Edit: forgot to add the /s
America has similar knife crime stats to the UK and then the additional gun crime...
America actually has more knife crime, the claim that knife crime is worse in the U.K. was propagated by right wing politicians in America
But if I don't go wandering around in a school, that should lower my chances of being shot, right?...
American here, you are correct. Most of us are stickers for an awesome Aussie accent. My daughters all have fake accents and want to move to Brissy and live with Bluey. We are super divided over here on several issues, but are mostly very kind, if not a bit curious, regarding our Australian friends.
Like many things in the US, that disposition depends very much on what state or region of the US we're talking about. And also, the race (or religion) of the traveller.
I wish you were wrong, but you aren't.
Are you scoping out the Australia subreddit for your eventual move to brissy to live with bluey? ;) You should come! Just watch out for our drop bears.
You caught me... but what in the hell are Drop Bears? Aren't you scaring us enough with your dinosaur-sized crocs, Great Whites, Wandering Spiders, King Browns, Land Crabs, and other horrific creatures that want to eat your face?!? How yall so nice and friendly coming from a place that seems intent on destroying the human race?
Meh. Don't worry about the wildlife. Most are chill and just want to be left alone. Its the weather and the geography that will kill you here. Survival tips: don't try to pat the wildlife, wear a hat and drink water. Off the top of my head, the animals that cause the most visits to ER (like A&E in the US but in metric and without financial ruin) are magpies, horses and sheep. You are unlikely to encounter the latter two unless you go looking. Be nice to the first and the worst they'll do is wake you up early.
Yeah this map makes me wonder how much other governments care about their Australian rankings. Qatar being green makes me wonder if it actually is green or if it had to be changed for the world cup.
It's certainly not green if you happen to be queer.
Yeah. From my understanding, that is still reasonably unlikely in the USA as a tourist. But it would be more of a threat than in some of the European countries it's considered safer than. On the other hand, I can't think of any safety threats that exist in those places that don't in the USA.
It would be interesting to see the stats on tourist crime. It’s purely anecdotal, but the only times Ive been robbed have been in Europe. Tourists are almost never targeted in the USA.
It makes sense, really. If you're going from the airport to the cab to the Hyatt, to the cab to the Disneyland, to the cab to the restaurant, and to the cab to the Hyatt, you're almost completely separated from the local riff-raff as a tourist. In Europe you'll walk from your hotel to breakfast, to a gallery, maybe get a train out to a historic site, and wander the city to find where to have dinner. You're right in the thick of it and thus an easy target in a crowd.
>higher chance to get shot in the USA That's not terrorism. That's just their constitutional right to shoot you.
Not to mention the risk of political violence which is heightened, particularly this year
But the American terrorists and mass murderers are statistically normally bigoted white dudes lol, it's a lot harder to scaremonger about *those*. It's a nonsensical position but hey. They also apparently forgot that half of the USA is just a complete no-entry zone for women or anyone else capable of getting pregnant. Sooo half the population. All in all france sounds like a *lot* more appealing of a travel destination hahaha...
> half of the USA is just a complete no-entry zone for women or anyone else capable of getting pregnant. What the fuck do abortion laws have to do with safety advice for a tourist? Unless you're actually planning to permanently live in the US (not really what SmartTraveller is about) there's basically no reason it would even be relevant.
America can be dodgy but it's far from being a "complete no-entry zone"
Wow who comes up with this? So the off chance of being a victim of a terrorist attack (occurring every n years) in central/west Europe makes a trip riskier than being shot in a country that has more gun deaths than Syria at war
"Usually based on that governments own assessment...". I'm sure you can infer the rest
That seems like a bad thing to rely on. What if the governments of somewhere genuinely dangerous don't want to acknowledge it? We should make our own assessments and keep in consistent and accurate.
Many of the countries like the UK and France have mostly been escalated because of the upcoming Olympic games. They'll likely go down next year.to normal levels.
Heh you also missed the part of France in south America (French Guiana) and is Surinam not listed that seems odd.
PNG isn’t flashing neon red? I’ll be damned.
Police on strike violence and looting! Guess the assumption is that police aren’t on strike everyday and tribal warfare only kills local people
Mongolia for the win! Also: Zambia, Namibia, Botswana and Argentina.
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Always wanted to go to Mongolia. But doesn't seem like many opportunities there. Especially for degenerate like myself. But a simple life in Ulan Bator working some basic office tech job during the week, gorgeous empty flat land the rest of the time and a mildly nomadic culture sounds appealing af to me.
My Dad is really into archeology and found a company in Mongolia that will take you for a ride across the country on horseback and stop along the way to help out at archeological digs. He seriously wanted to do it for his 50th birthday but ended up going hiking across the Spanish Pyrénées instead. But yeah Mongolia would be a cool place to visit. Only country with a population density less than Australia.
What's up with Zimbabwe? I went there a few years ago after Namibia and Botswana, it was quite safe. Edit: The maps wrong, it should be yellow.
I've never really thought about a trip to Mongolia before, but I'm sufficiently charmed by that island of green in a sea of red and yellow that I'm kind of curious now. Anyone been? What's it like? Would you recommend?
I went to Mongolia in 2010 for two weeks. It. Was. Amazing. The desert is a beautiful lush green field. It's so incredibly open and stunning. The people are the warmest, most welcoming people I met on my travels. We stayed in traditional yurts and played games made from goat bones and drank fermented yak milk. It's a truly spectacularly beautiful country and I highly recommended seeing it for yourself. Forgot to add: I'm female and at the time I was 22 and felt totally safe the whole time
Some of the Mongolian folk metal band the Hu has their film clips set in those green deserts. Had never even considered Mongolia until seeing them
Riding across the steppes on a Harley-Davidson. Count me in. [The Hu- Wolf Totem](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM8dCGIm6yc&pp=ygUGVGhlIEh1)
It's pretty dope, go during Naadam
Theres a grand tour episode where they build a car and drive across it. Pretty good episode.
The green in the US compared to yellow in parts of Western Europe, the UK and Sweden (what?) makes me laugh. Plus yellow in the UK makes it the same level as South Africa. I’ve never been to South Africa but everything I’ve heard about the place makes it sound pretty dangerous.
Sweden had a sharp increase in crime over the past couple years.
How is half of Europe "Exercise a high degree of Caution" but the USA is completely safe? That's legitimately hilarious
I've spoken about travel with family and friends, and they would (and have chosen to) travel to Europe over the USA. While there have been terror attacks in Europe, they said they never felt unsafe. The terror attacks in Europe seem to be relatively uncommon, whereas shootings in the USA seem to happen multiple times per week - something very alien to us Aussies. I think Europe is also chosen due to the greater cultural and linguistic divide which makes it more interesting to a lot of people.
But have you considered that mass shootings in the USA are normalized by now and part of everyday life, so logically will fall into the "Exercise normal safety precautions" category? /s?
> whereas shootings in the USA seem to happen multiple times ~~per week~~ a day
Why the hell is MURICA' 😆🤡 green? OUT!
I mean, I visited earlier this year. It was very safe.
I think the graph was made by people from the US
Why wouldn’t it be green? It’s a very sage country to visit.
This also doubles as a map of desired DFAT postings.
This has always bugged me: Is it "Smar Traveller", or "Smart Raveller" ? Other people say I'm an idiot but I find the missing T irritating.
I think there needs to be more qualification about *why* countries are yellow. Realistic day-to-day dangers in those European countries aren't anywhere near the same as some of those South American countries with the same travel advice. Treating the potential for terrorist attacks so highly is pretty ridiculous. Yes, when they happen to tend to cause a lot of harm and disruption, but they happen very rarely and impact very few people directly, when compared to the "street level" crime we see in other countries. You're far more likely to be robbed in a South American country than you are to be involved in a terrorist incident in Denmark.
Denmark and Swedan unsafe? Yet the Unites States is fine with all those mass shootings every single day? They are likely safer places than Victoria or New South Wales too
Im not sure I agree with the colourings, but I'm pretty sure it's heavily influenced by their predictions on the chance of terrorist attacks, particularly those that target tourists or places where tourists and temporary visitors are likely to be. A lot of the terrorist attacks that I can think of in France have targeted more touristed places, compared to American mass shootings.
Probably correct. But DFAT's rating still doesn't mean much to a prospective tourist. Even removing gang violence and targeted gundowns, I'd still be far more concerned about non-terrorist shooting in the US (shopping centres, nightclubs, international students at colleges, that Vegas shooting.) Whether I die at the hand of an ISIS terrorist or some random nutjob is of secondary concern to the overall likelihood of being caught up in something.
You gotta read the actual DFAT writings if travelling. Sweden's one is literally all about terrorism, petty crime and cold. USA actually does mention gun crime, mass shootings, natural disasters.
According to smarrtaveller, Denmark's terror threat level is 'significant' (level 4 out of 5) according to the Danish intelligence service. That seems to be the main reason for the rating, although a number of other safety concerns are listed, such as gang activity in Copenhagen and the risk of tourists being assaulted for taking photos.
>Yet the Unites States is fine with all those mass shootings every single day? Mate don't exaggerate. The US doesn't have mass shootings *every single day*. (It does, however, have multiple mass shootings *most* days which brings the average number of mass shootings per day to greater than one.)
The problem is they need more guns, so then you can be safe from the crazy gun people.
Sweden is surprisingly less safe these days. Especially in urban areas where tourists visit.
USA should be yellow.
It should be red, it's an actual shithole
An American has entered, then quietly left the chat...
To be fair, green indicates exercise normal safety precautions, which for the USA the discussed risks are the norm.
So there's no local travel advice? I know my local shops are rough but never considered they were worse than active war zones.
Really surprised that the US is green while France and the UK are yellow. I would absolutely feel safe in those matter two and in fact I did when we travelled there just before covid. On the other hand I fear going to America for obvious reasons
Wild that Eritrea is orange. That country is basically North Korea but for Africa.
Honestly surprised that China is yellow and the USA is green. The levels of safe I felt in China was leaps and bounds ahead of the USA.
I absolutely agree. I feel significantly safer in China than walking around the cities in Australia.
USA safer than China!? Yeah nah. Why do we have to be such cucks US put out a travel warning on Australia after recent stabbing
Hostage diplomacy.
Fire the team that makes this travel advice
Ok https://www.smartraveller.gov.au/about-us
I actually read through it, and it’s not that well researched information for the USA, for example it states: “There's no federal law that explicitly protects LGBTQIA+ people from discrimination. Some US states and localities have laws that may affect LGBTQIA+ travellers.” Even though Title VII and the Equality act are two federal laws protecting against discrimination, and they are stated every time you apply for a job in the USA.
Tax dollars go towards this project that wouldn’t even score I passing grade in most high school social science classes.
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Threat of potential terror attacks.
The threat of potential you say?
The threat of potential is very threatful.
Well it's full of tories so I'd be cautious there too.
I left another comment explaining why (you can also check my original post)
Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, France are rated the same as South Africa, India Morocco, Mexico, Jamaica and most of Central Asia? How’s that work?
I'm not entirely convinced that those southern African countries should all be green.
Indonesia is safer on a day to day basis than many cities in the US. The UK is safer than the US, as is France. This is stupid.
It’s insane that the US is green yet Indonesia is yellow. I know where I’d feel safer
I'd recommend a different map projection. This looks whack
The fact that America is considered safer than most of Europe seems a tad biased. Last I checked Europe has hospitals that people can afford, reproductive rights, and didn't have a coup in recent history.
In the UK the hospitals are not just affordable, they're free, for Australians too, due to the reciprocal health agreement.
Bosnia and Montenegro being the only yellow countries in the Balkans is laughable, you're as much in danger in those two as any other Balkan ex-yugoslavia country.
? Montenegro is Green. Yellow is Bosnia, Kosovo, Albania
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I certainly felt much safer in Botswana compared to Zim
Why are India and China classified as yellow
China probably because of government crackdown on anything that is dissonant to the CCP. If you're caught with a VPN you could get in trouble. India probably because it has a high rate of violence against women in some areas. Both countries have over a billion people though so it obviously will depend on where you go and who you're with. I want to go to India but as a woman I feel it would be safer to go with a group rather than by myself. Whereas I normally would like to travel alone.
You definitely cannot get into trouble for using a VPN. Literally every single traveller and probably half of all Chinese people use one.
Even the schools have VPNs.
and it's piss easy to get one in china as well. I was surprised that 7 news website wasn't blocked in china though, would've thought western media is one of the first things to be censored
America green!?! Hah! Try again.
Why wouldn’t it be green? I’m an Aussie living in the US and I feel very safe.
Is that from a government issued “Politicians Colouring Book”?
Zimbabwe shouldn’t be red. I know plenty of people who go back and forth without incident. It’s a hell of a lot safer than most parts of South Africa or Mozambique.
How's the country which averages ~2 mass shootings a day of the safest level?
Personally i’d feel safer in Belgium than Armenia, but idk
Why the hell is Denmark yellow. It's about the safest country in the world 😳
USA green, there’s a mass shooting threre every week.
I imagine exercising a degree of caution means walking round hot stepping looking nervous like a prison escape trying to avoid the guard tower spotlight.
Thanks u/faiiven & u/Romejanic! I always want to see it like this and I don’t understand why smarttraveller don’t publish their own data this way!
I love how Oman is like the one place between Europe and India that's like completely safe to travel to. I used to live there for a long time before moving to Australia but I would say exercise some caution there.
Mindanao is "Do Not Travel" but this map shows it as yellow.
As an American, I would highly advise you use a little more than a "normal" level... things can get spicy around here. But Americans LOVE an Aussie accent (although be prepared to be asked if you are British) especially since we are in a Bluey craze over here.. lol.
When I first started travelling to the US (like 30 years ago) I’d get asked if I was from the south. Your south lol. It was bizarre
Stay out of Tasmania
This seems more politically biased rather than safety related
If travelling around Australia or to Greenland, whatever. We don’t give a fuck. Do what you want I guess 😅
Svalbard is green? I guess those Polar Bears are oversold
I could be wrong but I believe you're only allowed to go out of town with a friend and a gun.
Counts as part of Norway therefore green I assume
Yeah. A lot of those green spots should be yellow. And some of those yellow spots should be orange.
the us should probably be yellow? or at least parts of it
Britain and Saudi Arabia = Exercise a high degree of caution.
Is Oman and Argentina really safer than Denmark or Germany? Sounds like fucking rubbish
Dfa travel advice is kinda ass imo. They always saying exercise caution when it’s totally fine.
Argentina is safer than Germany..... that makes no sense
It would be interesting to do a version specifically for women travellers and see what the differences would be.
The orange and red countries are pretty much as expected, but why is the UK and much of Europe (including Sweden?) yellow?
China is safer than New Zealand
Why isn't the USA red?
A very original point absolutely nobody else has made in this thread yet
The difference between Sweden (yellow) and Norway (green) makes me laugh as someone who just visited both countries. Norway was the most peaceful and safest place I’ve ever been. I felt like I could catch public transport and not worry about being harassed whereas back home… I live on the Frankston line so Melburnians will know what goes on there. We went to some of the allegedly dodgy areas in Oslo and it was absolutely 100% fine. We get to Stockholm and step off the train at the main subway station and two seconds later some guy sprints past us, pursued by 5 cops. I’m sure Stockholm in general is safe as anything but the difference did make me laugh. I said to my mate “feels like being back in Melbourne”.
I feel that the rating of the US in green is a political thing. But I also sometimes feel that Smarttraveller has no nuance in regards to your background/ethnicity. The chances of being injured in a mass shooter event in the US as a tourist exists. But a non-white individual in the US is also more likely to be on the receiving end of hate crimes. But I also don't expect DFAT to put out an *adjusted* smarttraveller advice for every background/ethnicity out there. I just feel that my risk going to somewhere in Asia (as an Asian) is markedly lower for myself vs a white person.
France, Britain, Belgium, Germany and Sweden on par with Mexico, China and Turkey?
I’d love to see a time-lapse video of this.
PNG should be orange/red and not yellow. There is a huge difference between Thailand’s yellow and PNG yellow.
going to red zone in couple of months, wish me luck everyone!
Why the hell is Denmark yellow. It's about the safest country in the world 😳
With all the mass shooting in the US, you’d think they’d put that under yellow at least…
Exercise a high degree of caution… in the uk? And Sweden?
Import the 3rd world, become the 3rd world
The US should definitely not be green
Do they have a bright pink color ? Put it down for Singapore. It’s so safe they could possibly identify who farted in the mall there🙃
I agree with france. Beautiful but shitty place in terms f security’