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Netherlands Travel Warning

Netherlands Travel Warning

Old Jul 19, 2019, 6:06 pm
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Netherlands Travel Warning

Just received this STEP Notification from US Department of State












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Old Jul 19, 2019, 8:17 pm
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Now, now... Read the very last sentence of this: They send, and re-send these warnings and, this way, they keep their jobs every time an act of terrorism happens somewhere in the world. Perhaps they should hire a few more people in this agency to send warnings about killings in US schools, night clubs and post offices.
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Old Jul 20, 2019, 8:29 am
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Is this serious? It's one of the safest countries in the world. I'm surprised there's even a warning.

I'm not generally as critical of State Dept travel warnings as many others here, but this one might as well say don't ever leave your house. If this were a new warning based on credible evidence, I'd get it, but just a general warning makes me wonder if there's any place in the world that wouldn't get a level 2.

This is what makes people ignore the warnings, even the ones they shouldn't. For somewhere like Paris, a level 2 probably makes sense, but not for The Netherlands (unless I'm missing something).
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Old Jul 20, 2019, 11:05 am
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It may have to do with concerns that connect the Dutch drug trade with Iranian-backed Hezbollah or with just the latter being positioned to act up dangerously in the Netherlands in the event of further hostilities involving Iran. Ill probably hear more about this on Tuesday.

The Netherlands is on the same level as France, and its as I would expect it to be. Will I change my travels because of it? No.
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Old Jul 20, 2019, 1:42 pm
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that could be the advice for any number of countries across the world. Including the USA
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Old Jul 20, 2019, 4:07 pm
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Originally Posted by UKtravelbear
that could be the advice for any number of countries across the world. Including the USA
Yes, and it’s part of why the trend will turn out to be one for higher level(s) of warnings across more and more countries,

Denmark has also been moved up to Level 2 this year. The UK was already at 2 IIRC. Sweden is at 1.
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Last edited by GUWonder; Jul 20, 2019 at 7:18 pm
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Old Jul 21, 2019, 9:22 am
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Originally Posted by GUWonder
It may have to do with concerns that connect the Dutch drug trade with Iranian-backed Hezbollah or with just the latter being positioned to act up dangerously in the Netherlands in the event of further hostilities involving Iran. Ill probably hear more about this on Tuesday.

The Netherlands is on the same level as France, and its as I would expect it to be. Will I change my travels because of it? No.
Yes, I suppose that's possible. But it's a re-issue of an existing warning, that's the part that surprised me more, that one even existed.

It seems odd to me that a country like this would have the same warning level as countries that actually have a history of terrorist attacks, such as France, Belgium, or the US. Maybe the point I'm trying to make is that the system isn't very useful.
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Old Jul 21, 2019, 10:25 am
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There was the Utrecht tram attack last winter, though it was small-scale. And authorities said last year that people arrested in Arnhem were planning a major terrorist attack. So perhaps there's some justification for the official caution, despite the absence of a major incident so far.

ETA: To clarify, I'm not saying that people shouldn't travel to the Netherlands (I still will), just that the warning may have some basis.
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Last edited by Giggleswick; Jul 21, 2019 at 10:30 am
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Old Jul 22, 2019, 1:50 am
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It's a fairly pointless CYA-style warning. It would be easier and more effective if they just published a warning along the lines of:

If you travel anywhere outside your house you face multiple dangers to your life, at any time. These life threatening dangers can come in any form, including ones you least expect. Take precautions accordingly. Life threatening dangers also lurk inside your house.
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Old Jul 22, 2019, 4:24 pm
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Originally Posted by LondonElite
It's a fairly pointless CYA-style warning. It would be easier and more effective if they just published a warning along the lines of:

If you travel anywhere outside your house you face multiple dangers to your life, at any time. These life threatening dangers can come in any form, including ones you least expect. Take precautions accordingly. Life threatening dangers also lurk inside your house.
Beware of water, you could drown.
Beware of driving a car, you could have a fatal car accident.
Beware of heating your house, you could die of carbon monoxide poisoning.
And so on.
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Old Jul 25, 2019, 12:27 am
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Originally Posted by GUWonder


Beware of water, you could drown.
Beware of driving a car, you could have a fatal car accident.
Beware of heating your house, you could die of carbon monoxide poisoning.
And so on.
Beware of being born, you will die.
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Old Jul 25, 2019, 2:13 am
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When in doubt (e.g. I recently travelled to Kosovo because of work and wanted to go and see other places apart from the capital city), I normally go for the Foreign Travel Advice on gov.uk: always up-to-date, no-nonsense, 'elegantly' written and with plenty of useful info - very British indeed

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Old Jul 25, 2019, 5:48 am
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They should bring back the Boris Johnson's Travel Advice page - which in its eloquent way was probably the best there ever was



https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/ent...b0daae46fc12d8
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Old Jul 25, 2019, 6:32 am
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Ha, I suspect there will be plenty of that in the days and months to come and possibly from his official Twitter account at Number 10

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Old Jul 25, 2019, 10:11 am
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Originally Posted by AlicorporateUK
I normally go for the Foreign Travel Advice on gov.uk: always up-to-date, no-nonsense, 'elegantly' written and with plenty of useful info - very British
Which, by the way, also advises vigilance when travelling to the Netherlands, citing the possibility of terrorist attacks. So the US travel caution doesn't look as much like paranoid overreach as might otherwise be assumed.
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