Travel advisories issued against America are a bit rich. (And miss the point)

By A.W. | WASHINGTON, DC

LAST week was a difficult one for America. First came news of the latest two police shootings of black men, in Louisiana and Minnesota. Then an even bloodier scene followed, when a sniper in Dallas shot and killed five police officers in apparent retaliation. As if the social, racial and political turmoil were not enough for the country, four nations added an economic threat by issuing travel warnings for people thinking about making a trip to America.

The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, the Bahamas and New Zealand all issued alerts about travel to the United States, with variances in tone and advice. The foreign ministry of the Bahamas, a majority-black country, noted the “shootings of young black males” by police and warned, “In particular young males are asked to exercise extreme caution in affected cities in their interactions with the police.” The UAE, which had earlier this month warned about wearing traditional dress in America, after one of its citizens was falsely accused of being a jihadist and was subject to some heavy-handed policing, later issued a broader advisory that cautioned against visiting “crowded places”. Bahrain similarly counselled, “Be cautious of protests or crowded areas occurring around the US.” New Zealand meanwhile advised, “We recommend you avoid all protests and demonstrations as on occasion civil disorder can result.”

None of this is exactly unreasonable. There is a heightened degree of volatility in certain American cities, and violence is possible when large crowds gather. But that misses the bigger picture. Last week’s tragedies took the lives of two men who were going about their lives, five police officers and no participants in protests. Some context is needed.

First, it is a little rich to see countries like Bahrain warning against the dangers of demonstrations in America. According to the Human Rights Watch report on Bahrain, “Anti-government protests continued despite a ban on freedom of assembly, and police used excessive force to disperse demonstrators.” It goes on to say that detainees are often tortured.

Second, there is something perverse about issuing a warning for a territory as vast and diverse as the United States. (It is not dissimilar to the travel advisory the U.S. State Department issued earlier this summer for the entire continent of Europe, which, even considering the horrors that have unfolded in France, we also noted was too broad.)

Finally, public gatherings rank incredibly low on the list of dangers. There are more than 30,000 motor vehicle fatalities in America every year. When it comes to violent deaths, guns themselves are a far larger threat than the protests that surround their inappropriate use. In Chicago, a big tourist destination, murders are on the rise. More than 400 people are killed in the city each year, overwhelmingly by firearms. Homicides are also taking place more frequently in Dallas, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and other cities. In Washington this weekend, a 27-year-old Democratic National Committee staffer was shot dead near his home in the increasingly expensive neighbourhood of Bloomingdale, a mile and a half north of the Capitol. It got far less attention than the protests, and yet incidents like these pose a much greater threat to visitors.

In all, guns claimed the lives of more than 13,000 Americans last year. But Bahrain et al are not issuing travel warnings on that basis. Instead, when people protest against the conditions that lead to these deaths—whether they are carried out by police or civilians—then the situation starts to appear dangerous to foreign governments.

Sadly, the travel warning from the Bahamas is probably the most valid. Large crowds in American cities are unlikely to put most travellers in peril. But for young black men, the evidence keeps accumulating that interactions with police threaten their lives. Last week brought further proof of that unfortunate fact. But the risk is still tiny compared with the far greater threats, in America and beyond.