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Unfair Warnings
Err Travel · May 25, 1999

The governments of four large English-speaking countries -- Australia, Britain, Canada, and the United States -- all offer free, on-line travel advice and warnings to their citizenry.

However, because the information is filtered through diplomatic agencies of their respective governments, what is offered can be pretty watered down. After all, governments must walk a careful path in providing meaningful security information to their foreign-bound citizens without ticking off their foreign allies.

So how are these governments doing in delivering pertinent travel security information and advice?

To find out, I selected to review the warnings issued recently by each of the four governments' services regarding travel in Uganda. I selected Uganda because of the recent murders of eight Western tourists there. Using a secret formula, I ranked each warning for effectiveness.

Here are my findings:

Australia

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade receives a big, fat "D." The timid warning from this agency states that "Australians should consider deferring non-essential travel to western Uganda and avoid the area bordering the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda in particular."

Britain

Travel warnings from the Travel Advice Unit of the Consular Division of the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office fared better. The British "advise against all travel to Uganda's border areas with Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo." They receive a "C" rating for their efforts.

United States

The U.S. State Department also received a "C" rating for the warning it issued on March 1 in which it "strongly urge[d] American citizens . . . to postpone their travel." However, on March 12 it reissued a warning that "Americans living in or planning to visit Uganda should be aware of threats to their safety from insurgent groups [which] have engaged in murder, armed attacks, kidnapping, and the placement of landmines [and] have at times specifically targeted Americans." This more compelling warning boosted the State Department's warning rating to a "B."

Canada

With a "B+," the Canadian Consular Affairs Bureau of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade received the best rating of the group. The warning from this office was straightforward and reflected the seriousness of the situation: "You should defer all travel to western Uganda, including the gorilla parks, and the border areas with Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo until further notice. Canadians residing in these border areas should depart."

Given the political constraints within which government travel warnings are issued, it is reasonable to expect that we will never see an "A" rating, which would read something like, "If you are not in Uganda, don't go; you could be killed. If you are now in Uganda, get out; you could be killed."

Dr. Terry Riley is a psychologist and travel security authority. Visit his site at http://www.appliedpsychology.com or e-mail him at riley@appliedpsychology.com.