Now that the vacation season has started, UAE’s Ministry of Ministry of Foreign Cooperation and International Affairs(MoFAIC) released a warning to UAE nationals not to travel to 13 countries.
Security situation has been the top concern
Due to security situations, the most of these countries are part of the travel warning. The 13 countries in the travel warning are Madagascar, Democratic Republic of Congo, Yemen, Republic of South Sudan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Ukraine, Pakistan, Syria, Nigeria, Iraq and Libya.
| No. | Country with travel warning | Warning date announced | Reason |
| 1 | Madagascar | 20th November 2017 | Plague disease |
| 2 | Democratic Republic of Congo | 28th December 2016 | Security situation |
| 3 | Yemen | 21st September 2014 | Security situation |
| 4 | Republic of South Sudan | 10th August 2014 | Security situation |
| 5 | Afghanistan | 10th August 2014 | Security situation |
| 6 | Somalia | 10th August 2014 | Security situation |
| 7 | Ukraine | 21st July 2014 | Security situation |
| 8 | Pakistan | 26th June 2014 | Security situation |
| 9 | Syria | 13th June 2014 | Security situation |
| 10 | Nigeria | 13th June 2013 | Security situation |
| 11 | Iraq | 28th March 2013 | Security situation |
| 12 | Libya | 11th October 2012 | Security situation |
Madagascar is on the warning list because of the plague disease
Last year, the plague disease outbreak led to 171 deaths at Madagascar. It’s believed that the disease could spread across the Indian Ocean, having “moderate risk”, according to The World Health Organization. Not only that, there was a staggering 219 cases reported throughout the island. The disease has been in Madagascar for nearly three decades.
Three places have a travel ban for Emiratis
Since 2016, the Ministry announced a travel ban on Lebanon and on the Azerbaijani region of Karabakh. The ban on Lebanon is due to their security situation while the ban on Karabakh is due to their political situation, the ongoing conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia battling over claiming the border. Thirdly, a travel ban was announced on Qatar since they cut ties in June last year.
Warnings against South India were recently lifted
For almost a month, the Southern Indian state of Kerala was affected by the Nipah virus, due to which a travel warning was announced as well as an import ban on fruit and vegetables. However, by June 18th, it was announced that the virus has been contained and MoFAIC soon lifted the ban. Before Kerala, UAE had announced travel warnings on Tanzania over extreme climatic conditions and on the Maldives this year due to political instability.