British expat workers facing increasing numbers of FCO warnings

British nationals have been warned to stay clear of Ghajjar and Gaza regions due to the increased danger of attacks.

Expats living and working in the region surrounding the Gaza Strip are being warned to stay well away from the border with Lebanon. Fighting between Gaza militants and Israeli armed forces has sent tensions in the region soaring to new heights.

Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office has issued an official warning to all UK expats and travellers in the region to avoid entry by land or sea due to rocket attacks, retaliatory air strikes and the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza’s sea lanes and port. In addition, the UK is urging expats working in the Yemen to leave as soon as possible due to increasingly frequent terrorist attacks targeting Westerners.

Terrorist attacks are also increasing in Pakistan, with warnings being issued by Britain and other European countries to expat workers, residents and travellers in the region. Suicide bomber attacks in the capital, Islamabad, as well as spasmodic sectarian violence across the country, are becoming more frequent, affecting UK workers and expats alike.

Warnings have also been issued against all but emergency travel to the Somalian border area of Kenya as well as to the country’s coastal resorts and safari areas, as violence and kidnap attempts against Westerners are on the rise. Expats living and working in Sri Lanka are also at risk from violence during firefights between rival factions, and looting is becoming more common.

It seems that British would-be expatriates with offers to move abroad to take up a new job should now consider their destinations more carefully than in previous decades. The Muslim world isn’t the only place experiencing turmoil in the present day, and former relatively safe destinations such as sub-Saharan Africa, parts of India and even the Eastern European states are now branded as risky, however tempting an employment package may be.