Is it *safe* in...?

I wrote this in a response to a question questioning the safety of Syria and Lebanon ("I heard that it is not safe in Syria & Lebanon...", then honed and expanded it for the FAQ thread and because IMHO it turned out great I thought I'd share it here too for your viewing pleasure...If you'd like to add anything feel free...

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<hr>Is it safe in this country I only heard bad things about and need to acquiesce my parents/co workers/spouse now?<hr></blockquote>

Usually this question is asked by someone who needs to alleviate either his own suspicion of an otherwise appealing destination and/or acquiesce his/her parents/co workers/significant other.

Is it safe in ...? invariably leads to the question what is meant by "safety" anyway.

What constitutes "safe" anyway?

- First, there's a difference between "feeling" safe and "being" safe. The former is mostly shaped by your perception (which is probably mostly shaped by [usually unsavory] events mentioned in media reports which are in some way connected to your future destination and the general feeling others have about that country) and the latter is based on cold mathematics and statistics.

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What kind of risk are you most concerned about? What do you actually mean by safe?

Do you mean:

- the safety regarding traffic accidents? The risk of becoming involved in a traffic accident? The severity of the injury? The medical care after the accident?

- the safety from crime? The risk of becoming a crime victim? The consequences of said crime?

- the safety from political turmoil? Risk of a war happening during your holiday? Risk of getting your fifteen minutes of fame on FoxNews while evacuating the country in a helicopter or complaining that your country hasn't got its act together (unlike, say, the Swiss) and your nationality is the last one stuck in the country?

- the safety from terrorist acts? The risk of being kidnapped [think of Iraq] or being another victim of a mindless (suicide) bomb attack?

Risks and their assessment for most Middle Eastern countries (sans Iraq, including Iran) in descending order (highest risk on top, lowest on bottom, IMHO)

- If you have a traffic accident it is less safe than, say, Germany because I imagine the risk of actually having a car accident to be higher than in (for example) Germany (just think of crossing the road in Midan Tahrir/Cairo or crazy taxi drivers) (however with the speeds on the autobahn I imagine the injuries of a car accident on a German road to be more severe than in Middle Eastern traffic) (but German cars are usually safer than Middle Eastern cars, if only for the functioning seat belt).

But more importantly the medical care after the traffic accident is better in Europe or the USA.

- I'd say that all Middle Eastern countries are a lot safer (crime wise) than, say, the USA. Both regarding the risk of becoming a crime victim and the possible consequences of the crime.

(Ever heard of anyone getting robbed at gunpoint and/or shot in the Middle East? This ain't South America or the US. But it is also a result of the not so free press mind you)

- Political turmoil? War looming on the horizon? You can never rule that out in the Middle East and things may move fast (think of the summer war between Israel and the Hezbollah and/or Lebanon).

However, unlike the USA or the UK or Germany, no country (other than Iraq) is currently actively (actively as in openly) involved in an ongoing war. (and yeah, I heard of Hezbollah, but that's covert and things are quiet now)

- Terrorist act? There's a bomb once in a while in Lebanon (think of Hariri's death) and Israel but the risk is negligible. Risk of traffic accident is much higher (more Israelis died in Israel in traffic accidents than in a terrorist acts and all wars together, so I heard).

No kidnappings except in Iraq, where it is a thriving business and where there's a car bomb a day (or more).

you forgot to mention the risk of falling for the hot Lebanese women (and men). tsk tsk tsk...

A good post, solyentyellow.

Of course many Americans/Europeans will not suffer crime in their home territory precisley because they blend in and are familiar with the way things are, e.g. avoiding certain locations at night. When in unfamiliar territory we just have to be more thoughtful before acting and more watchful.

I think you could have added the possibility for serious illness, e.g. malaria. Misconceptions regarding the likelihood of contracting a life-threatening or seriously-debilitating illness are rife. Legionaire's disease bacteria, which is oftern lethal, is found in air-conditioning systems of modern hotels and not in rustic huts.

I am certain many people will not travel to unfamiliar territory because of the fear of falling ill.

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<hr>you forgot to mention the risk of falling for the hot Lebanese women (and men).tsk tsk tsk... <hr></blockquote>

add to that the risk of busting your budget going out in Beirut chatting up all these beautiful Lebanese...

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<hr>Of course many Americans/Europeans will not suffer crime in their home territory precisely because they blend in and are familiar with the way things are<hr></blockquote>

- The risk depends on the person exposed to the risk. True. So by comparing the risks in Washington and Damascus there is a difference to whom the risk applies.

Do you want to compare the risk for an American local/out of towner/Syrian tourist in Washington to the risk of a Syrian local/out of towner/American tourist in Damascus? That's nine different possibilities/risk assessments...Whoa, this is getting quickly out of hand.

[add to that the political risk of saying something critical of the government. As a rule of thumb, you are better off being American if you are saying anything critical in either place of either government than if you are a Syrian in either place critical of either government]

I was actually robbed in Germany once but never abroad. But I do spend more time in Germany than abroad - so that observation is not scientific at all [a sample size of one is too small anyway].

- Risk of illness - true. Some you can actually protect yourself against with vaccinations (rabies, some forms of Hepatitis, Typhus, any more?) (which is actually a good idea because they are nasty and a cure once you contracted the disease is difficult) some you can't really protect yourself against (some which are common and not that nasty like common diarrhea)(aka traveler's revenge). Some are nasty too and no chance of protection, just risk minimizing, but as I am not a doctor I have actually no idea.

digression about diarrhea: well you can try to avoid it - but I think it is also how used your stomach is to the local germs and not only how wary you are of certain kinds of food.

[I had one really bad bout of diarrhea after eating at Subways in Beirut which was probably caused by the mega cup of Cokeicefree refill - all things unheard of in Syria where I lived at that moment.]

Diarrhea is not really dangerous if it doesn't last long and often stops by itself (for me anyway).

However, available over-the-counter medicine is as strong as what you'd get as prescription-only medicine in your home country, which might speed up the recovery process after your body's self healing properties have not kicked in.

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Note about common illnesses/injuries: Usually, doctors are used to common illnesses/injuries. Example: A friend if mine stepped into a sea urchin in Dahab and wasn't able to walk on her own afterwards. She was all upset and wanted to call her insurance and was worrying way too much.

I thought that it was surely a common thing for tourists to step into sea urchins in the sea and that the doctor would sure be able to deal with it in a jiffy.

And he was. After a short trip to the hospital she was given some (unlabeled) pills which dissolved the broken off bits of the sea urchin in her foot (it was pure magic) and the next day she was able to walk as if nothing had ever happened. The bill was 5$ and we were given triplicate copies to be able to file a claim with the insurer. I doubt she ever did file the claim.

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Best is to plan in rest days which you'd need anyway even without falling ill.

Then there are the worms that live in the Nile and will enter your body to live inside you - no swimming in the Nile for me.

But the Middle east is not in the tropics where many of the nastier diseases linger (like malaria, yellow fever) [May be there is Malaria in the Shatt el Arab region? No idea]

I feel like a politician giving these answers, which are neither a yes nor a no answer to a yes or no question. It all depends on your willingness to accept an unknown risk.

There is allegedly malaria in the Kurdish areas of NE Syria and in SE Turkey, at least vestigially.