Reconsider travel to Jamaica, says America to its citizens

Jamaica: The US State Department has updated its travel advisory for Jamaica at Level 3, asking Americans to reconsider their travel.  

The latest advisory, issued on July 24, highlighted that, “violent crime occurs throughout Jamaica, tourist spots have generally seen lower rates of violent crime than other areas of the country, homicide rate reported by the government is among the highest in the Western Hemisphere, sexual assaults and armed robberies are common,”. 

The development was also provided by the Ambassador of Jamaica to the United States, Audrey Marks said, ‘It is the softening of the language by the US State Department’.  

Marks said that earlier Jamaica was placed on Level 2, but this has now been increased to Level 3, signalling that the US is reconsidering the situation of the country.  

Meanwhile, in the advisory, US. also urged citizens to exercise increased caution regarding the medical services. The US Embassy said that it routinely receives reports of sexual assaults including from the American citizen nationals vacationing at resorts.  

The advisory read that the US citizens report slow or unsatisfactory response to serious crime incidents in Jamaica. It added that even when arrests are made, cases are infrequently prosecuted to a final verdict or sentence.  

Also, the robberies with the tourists remain common in Jamaica, with reports of hundreds of them being reported each month.  

Not only this but the US State Department also talked about the level of healthcare available in Jamaica and said that visitors can expect generally lower levels of emergency service responding time or routine care for injury or illness.  

It added that the private hospitals need payment up front before admitting patients and may not have the chance to provide specialised care. Also, the ambulance services are not always staffed with EMTs or always readily available in Jamaica, especially in rural areas, creating a major issue for the tourists. 

According to the advisory, US citizens must bring extra prescription medication as common medications such as insulin.  

Ambassador Marks also noted that although the advisory remains at Level three, the state department has softened its language. She outlined, “It is not what we want but it is still an improvement.”  

She also emphasised that whereas last year around five US tourists were impacted by this crime, so far this year none has been recorded, signalling an improvement in the overall crime scenario. She also asked the Americans to reconsider their travel plans to Jamaica while keeping the advisory in mind.  

Notably, as of April 13, the country had already recorded 311 homicides, which is a decrease of 14% as compared to the same period in 2023. While some improvement, but the data still shows that the island nation is not safe with the prevalence of armed gangs who still remain on the large.  

The advisory by the US State Department is anticipated to affect Jamaica’s overall tourism product, impacting the economy as a whole and putting out its negative image in front of the world.