Kenya listed among Mexico and Yemen as top global kidnapping hotspot

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The United States has named Kenya in a list of nearly three dozen countries where it warned its citizen’s risk being kidnapped across the globe.

As of Tuesday, the State Department’s travel advisories for 35 nations featured a “K” that signifies “the risks of kidnapping and hostage taking by criminal and terrorist actors around the world,” according to a statement. The department said that the use of a new indicator on its travel website was “part of our ongoing commitment to provide clear and comprehensive travel safety information to U.S. citizens so they can make informed travel decisions.”

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The Advise came a day before gunmen abducted two Cuban doctors in a road ambush at Banisa stage in Mandera town, some 1,135 kilometres from the capital Nairobi.

US State Department issues travel warning on these kidnapping prone countries:
Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia,— America’s BraveHeart (@DaveWallaceUS) April 11, 2019

Nations branded with a “K” included “Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Mali, Mexico, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Russian Federation, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine (in Russian-controlled eastern Ukraine), Venezuela, and Yemen.”

The latest move adds yet another hurdle to Kenya’s tourism sector.

Police spokesperson Charles Owino confirms the kidnapping of two Cuban doctors in Mandera pic.twitter.com/69BVbAf7hK— Daily Nation (@dailynation) April 12, 2019

The Department of State, which is in charge of foreign affairs, said Tuesday that the new assessment measure was been informed by cases of “kidnapping and hostage taking by criminal and terrorist actors around the world”.

Some 35 countries including Kenya have been slapped with updated advisories that include the risk of kidnapping.

US was the leading source of foreign tourists to Kenya last year when earnings from the sector jumped 37 percent to Sh157 billion — which is the biggest increase in more than a decade.

“The new “K” indicator is part of our ongoing commitment to provide clear and comprehensive travel safety information to US citizens so they can make informed travel decisions,” the US foreign office said in a statement.

The world’s largest economy periodically issues country-specific caution to its travelling citizens based on assessment of risk factors such as crime, terrorism, civil unrest, natural disasters and health.

Nearly half of the affected countries (16 in total) where the US citizens will get regular reports on the risk of being abducted are in Africa.

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