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Top 10 Countries with High Kidnapping Rates
The top 10 threat areas for kidnap for ransom have been identified in a new report published by crisis management assistance company red24. We’ve taken the report into consideration and done some research ourselves and have come up with our own top 10 list of countries where you are most likely to be kidnapped.
10. Colombia
We start the list of the top ten countries where you are most likely to be kidnapped with Colombia. The U.S. government rates Haiti as “Critical” in the threat categories of Crime and Political Violence. Haiti is unique in the Caribbean for its relative lack of tourism, scarcity of foreign investment, and inferior infrastructure. As a result, traditional tourist-oriented crimes, such as pickpocketing and purse snatching, are less reported than in other countries in the region.
The most frequently reported crimes against Americans in Port-au-Prince are carjackings, kidnappings, and robberies. Home invasions also remain an item of concern in some parts of Port-au-Prince. Kidnapping and other crimes increase during holiday seasons and before school sessions begin due to the belief that people are in possession of more cash for gifts and school fees.
Crimes against persons, including gender-based violence, remain a serious problem. Reliable statistics are difficult to come by; Haitian National Police (HNP) numbers indicating a modest drop in crime during 2012 were undercut by those from other security entities operating in-country thatcontinued to show a steady rise since 2010. Haiti’s perennially weak judiciary exacerbates an already unsteady security environment.
9. Haiti
We continue the list of top ten countries with highest kidnapping rates with Haiti. The U.S. government rates Haiti as “Critical” in the threat categories of Crime and Political Violence. Haiti is unique in the Caribbean for its relative lack of tourism, scarcity of foreign investment, and inferiorinfrastructure. As a result, traditional tourist-oriented crimes, such as pickpocketing and purse snatching, are less reported than in other countries in the region.
The most frequently reported crimes against Americans in Port-au-Prince are carjackings, kidnappings, and robberies. Home invasions also remain an item of concern in some parts of Port-au-Prince. Kidnapping and other crimes increase during holiday seasons and before school sessions begin due to the belief that people are in possession of more cash for gifts and school fees.
Crimes against persons, including gender-based violence, remain a serious problem. Reliable statistics are difficult to come by; Haitian National Police (HNP) numbers indicating a modest drop in crime during 2012 were undercut by those from other security entities operating in-country thatcontinued to show a steady rise since 2010. Haiti’s perennially weak judiciary exacerbates an already unsteady security environment.
8. Mexico
The latest public security report, (pdf, Spanish link) released by Mexico’s statistics bureau (INEGI) earlier this week, reveals the extent of the country’s rampant and virtually unpunished kidnapping problem. According to the report (p.21), a mind-boggling 105,682 kidnappings were committed in Mexico last year, of which an incredibly small 1,317 were reported to local or federal authorities. In other words, 99% of kidnappings in Mexico flew under the radar last year.
Many kidnappings are drug-related, and therefore often kept from authorities because victims involved in the drug trade want to avoid backlash or crackdowns on other offenses. But a good deal of the 100,000+ abductions went unreported on suspicion that nothing would be done, or worse, that more harm would come to the involved parties, according to local digital news site Animal Politico (link in Spanish). A survey taken by INEGI and included in the statistics bureau’sreport found that millions of crime victims simply considered reporting crimes “a waste of time.”
Mexico’s local police are famously negligent when it comes to identifying, pursuing and reportingcrimes. A study in 2011 (link in Spanish) found that Mexican police investigated a mere 4.5% of crimes. Even when detained, criminals are rarely convicted because of the country’s broken justice system—one which the US has been trying (and failing) to help Mexico with for years. Only 31% of those arrested on drug charges between 2006 and 2011 were actually convicted, according to a report (link in Spanish) released by Mexico’s attorney general’s office last year.
Mexico’s government is equally ineffective with murders, disappearances and other serious crimes. Less than 20% of roughly 4,000 disappearances in 2012 were reported, and 98% of murders last year went unsolved. The federal government only investigated 6% of all crimes in Mexico last year.
7. Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka faces a high degree of criminal activity around the country, especially in Colombo, its largest city and administrative capital of the Western Province. The majority of crimes are against Americans and other Westerners and are of petty variety (pickpockets, theft from hotel rooms, etc.). Many of these crimes are preventable if the traveler takes appropriate safeguards. Unfortunately, criminal threats run the spectrum, including murder, kidnapping, sexual harassment/assault, drug crimes, burglaries, counterfeiting (U.S. and Sri Lankan currency), and credit card fraud. Street hustlers or “touts” are common around the hotels, shopping centers, and tourist sites. American businesses have reported instances of threats and intimidation over business dealings and labor disputes.
6. India
Kidnapping in the India has just increased by rate of around 50% in the past few years. The children, the young guys and the girls, the rich companies’ employees are the greatest at risk of the kidnappings. Several highly publicized abductions and rape incidents involving tourists last year made headlines. One involved a 30-year-old American tourist who was offered a ride back to her hotel by three men. Instead, the men took her to a secluded spot and raped her. Poverty and inequality appear to be the biggest drivers of kidnapping and crime. The country’s poorer states, like Bihar, regularly account for a large share of kidnaps. Several larger criminal organizations and rebel groups also use abductions to augment their revenue streams.
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