The U.S. State Department this week issued a travel warning to the Bahamas amid a recent spike in murders in the island country.
It warned American citizens to avoid travel to the eastern parts of New Province Island, where Nassau is located, including using caution when walking or driving at night, keeping a low profile, and being aware of the surroundings. American citizens should also not “physically resist any robbery attempt,” the advisory said.
The majority of crime, it added, takes place in New Providence and Grand Bahama islands. “In Nassau, practice increased vigilance in the ‘Over the Hill’ area where gang-on-gang violence has resulted in a high homicide rate primarily affecting the local population,” said the State Department.
“Be vigilant when staying at short-term vacation rental properties where private security companies do not have a presence. Activities involving commercial recreational watercraft, including water tours, are not consistently regulated. Watercraft may be poorly maintained, and some operators may not have safety certifications,” the agency added.
“This may make you late for your appointments or delay plans you have, but this is a small price to pay for the collective benefit of having our streets made safer and our lives less blighted by murder and other violent crimes,” he said, noting that residents “are likely to be impacted by more roadblocks and unannounced police action.”
The activity, the prime minister added, will result in “more intrusive policing” but promised not to “violate anyone’s civil liberties.
Earlier in the week, the State Department placed nearby Jamaica on a level three out of four, advising people to “reconsider travel” due to violent crimes that have recently occurred.
It further warned that local police in Jamaica “often do not respond effectively to serious criminal incidents,” adding that “cases are infrequently prosecuted to a conclusive sentence.”
“Families of U.S. citizens killed in accidents or homicides frequently wait a year or more for final death certificates to be issued by Jamaican authorities,” the bulletin added. “The homicide rate reported by the Government of Jamaica has for several years been among the highest in the Western Hemisphere.”
In August 2023, the U.S. Embassy neighboring Haiti warned Americans to leave the Caribbean nation as soon as possible due to a spiraling security situation in which armed gangs have taken over swathes of the country. Weeks before that, the embassy closed due to “rapid gunfire” that erupted near the building, located in Port-au-Prince.
About two dozen countries are under a Level 3 out of 4 advisory, including China, multiple Central and South American countries, and many more.
