TRAVEL BANThe State Department Says: Do Not Travel to Libya

The State Department has renewed its strongest possible warning to Americans considering a trip to Libya: do not go.

The department’s current Libya advisory is Level 4, the highest of the four travel-advisory levels. It warns Americans not to travel to Libya “for any reason” because of crime, terrorism, unexploded landmines, civil unrest, kidnapping, and armed conflict. The advisory also warns of health risks and notes that violence between competing armed groups can erupt without warning.

The language becomes considerably more consequential when the department describes what Americans should do if they nevertheless decide to go. Travelers are advised to prepare a will and end-of-life instructions, designate insurance beneficiaries, establish a power of attorney, develop a proof-of-life protocol with family members, and leave DNA samples with a medical provider so that their remains can be identified if necessary. The department also recommends establishing an emergency communications plan and considering the use of a professional security organization.

This goes beyond a warning about an unpleasant or inconvenient destination. It indicates that the United States government may be unable to protect an American who gets into trouble there.

There is no U.S. Embassy in Libya, and the State Department’s Libya operations are handled through its Libya External Office at the U.S. Embassy in Tunis. The department’s ability to provide consular assistance is constrained by the security environment.

The immediate risks are substantial. Libya has multiple armed factions, widespread weapons, criminal organizations involved in trafficking and smuggling, and a continuing risk of kidnapping and assassination. Foreign nationals are particularly vulnerable.

Yet the Libya advisory also illustrates a larger problem with the State Department’s travel-advisory system: a four-level countrywide warning can be an extraordinarily blunt instrument for describing security conditions inside a country where risks vary substantially by location.

Twenty-Three Countries at Level 4
Libya is one of 23 countries currently carrying the State Department’s Level 4 “Do Not Travel” designation:

The designation applies to Afghanistan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Burma (Myanmar), Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Niger, North Korea, Russia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen.