Canada, Australia issue Mindanao travel warnings
Canada and Australia have raised travel warnings for their citizens to the Philippines’ second largest island, Mindanao, due to fresh threats of terrorism and kidnapping.
On July 3, Canada followed an earlier move by Australia to advise its citizens against unnecessary travel to Mindanao.
Promoted by Philippine governmental agencies as being safe, Davao, the island’s largest city, has nonetheless been listed among the locations that Australian diplomats have specifically been barred from traveling to, as well as Cotabato and Zamboanga.
The Australian government, which issued the warning on July 1, strongly advised its citizens to avoid visiting Mindanao “due to the very high threat of terrorist attack, kidnapping, violent crime and violent clashes between armed groups.”
The US embassy in Manila earlier warned its citizens on May 29 of a “credible kidnap threat against foreigners in Zamboanga.”
Decades-old Islamist insurgencies have made the island, especially the west, a cauldron of violent conflict.
President Benigno Aquino III signed a monumental peace framework agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front last October, and aspirations to reach a full-on peace treaty by 2016.
Abu Sayyaf, an Al Qaeda-linked militarist organisation based in the Sulu archipelago, is believed to be holding hostages.
[caption id="attachment_11822" align="alignleft" width="192"] Not all people in Mindanao are necessarily welcoming to travelers, the US and Canada warn[/caption] Canada and Australia have raised travel warnings for their citizens to the Philippines’ second largest island, Mindanao, due to fresh threats of terrorism and kidnapping. On July 3, Canada followed an earlier move by Australia to advise its citizens against unnecessary travel to Mindanao. Promoted by Philippine governmental agencies as being safe, Davao, the island’s largest city, has nonetheless been listed among the locations that Australian diplomats have specifically been barred from traveling to, as well as Cotabato and Zamboanga. The...
Canada and Australia have raised travel warnings for their citizens to the Philippines’ second largest island, Mindanao, due to fresh threats of terrorism and kidnapping.
On July 3, Canada followed an earlier move by Australia to advise its citizens against unnecessary travel to Mindanao.
Promoted by Philippine governmental agencies as being safe, Davao, the island’s largest city, has nonetheless been listed among the locations that Australian diplomats have specifically been barred from traveling to, as well as Cotabato and Zamboanga.
The Australian government, which issued the warning on July 1, strongly advised its citizens to avoid visiting Mindanao “due to the very high threat of terrorist attack, kidnapping, violent crime and violent clashes between armed groups.”
The US embassy in Manila earlier warned its citizens on May 29 of a “credible kidnap threat against foreigners in Zamboanga.”
Decades-old Islamist insurgencies have made the island, especially the west, a cauldron of violent conflict.
President Benigno Aquino III signed a monumental peace framework agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front last October, and aspirations to reach a full-on peace treaty by 2016.
Abu Sayyaf, an Al Qaeda-linked militarist organisation based in the Sulu archipelago, is believed to be holding hostages.
