Today’s world can be quite a dangerous place, especially for tourists and the population of the 11 countries with the highest rates of kidnapping. Be it for political reasons, ransom money or as a blow in a conflict between two opposed groups, kidnapping has been used since the dawn of mankind to gain advantage in a conflict. While in many countries kidnappers mainly target tourists so that they can request ransom money from their families and make a living out of it, the people in the items on this list can fear kidnapping at any time, no matter if they’re local or visiting. For a list of the most dangerous places for tourists you should surely see our list of the 9 most dangerous countries for tourists to visit. If you are interested in finding out where they have the highest kidnapping rates for locals and people from abroad alike, read on.
Kidnapping does not have to be all about violent crime, though. A lot of kidnappings result from child custody disputes, where the court (according to the defendant) unlawfully rules for the other parent. The child can be held illegally against its own will or the will of the other parent, which in no way threatens the child usually, but is also considered kidnapping. In certain places, though, if the child is taken away but it has given its own consent, the offending parent may not be held liable for kidnapping. However, laws vary from country to country and from state to state.
There are many types of recognized kidnappings which vary in how bizarre they are. Take for example, the Tiger Kidnapping which, albeit its exotic name, is the common act of kidnapping someone close to the target in order to exploit their relations with the kidnaped person. Another common type of the crime is Express Kidnapping which is fairly common in certain Latin America countries. It usually consist of briefly kidnapping tourists or wealthy looking people and demanding money from their family or company. A variety of that is the ATM kidnapping, in which the victim is taken around ATMs and forced to withdraw huge sums of money. Sometimes these sorts of forcefully being held result in the victim being taken to their own home and robbed.
11. Syria
Being in the midst of violent conflicts for several years now, Syria has seen a major increase in all sorts of kidnappings. Criminal groups there will go as far as abducting children for soldiers.
10. Iraq
Iraq, just like other countries from the Middle East which are currently overrun by warfare, has been more and more plagued by all sorts of kidnappings.
9. Colombia
Colombia’s kidnappings are mainly targeting the wealthier looking tourists. Frequently occurring types of abduction are the ATM or Express kidnapping described in the introduction.
8. Afghanistan
As you saw earlier on, much like Syria and Iraq, militant groups in Afghanistan abduct their locals and people from abroad alike. Journalist and reporter abductions are also frequent.
7. Philippines
People from the Philippines suffer from a heightened rate of violent crimes, including terrorist attacks and kidnappings aimed at tourists. It’s even advised that you don’t visit certain parts of the islands.
6. Lebanon
Lebanon is still dealing with the tremors that war has left it with, including a highly corrupted law keeping service. There isn’t much tourism in the area but you should be careful if you intend to visit.
5. Venezuela
Venezuela, as a part of Latin America, is seeing a lot of drug cartel related and tourist kidnapping. People who live there and tourists alike are taught to practice caution.
4. Pakistan
Pakistan has suffered from warfare just like its neighbors. Making the fourth spot on the list of the eleven countries with the highest rates of kidnapping in the world, you should be extremely careful there.
3. Nigeria
Nigeria has grown in size and population a lot in the past couple of decades. This has given way to rampant crime which also includes a great deal of tourist kidnappings.
2. India
From kidnapping tourists, to kidnapping women and children, India has it all. A simple search online would tell you why you should be extremely cautious there.
1. Mexico
Mexico is the world capital of drug cartels and quite a good example for organized crime. Kidnapping there is mainly focused on tourists and members of groups in conflict but they do it enough to top the list of the 11 countries with the highest rates of kidnapping in the world.
