🇰🇲 Union of the Comoros (Komori)
Visiting: High Risk
The risks in the Comoros are real. Same-sex relationships are criminalised, which places it 122nd for LGBT rights, so LGBT travellers should weigh this carefully. There is some exposure to conflict, ranking 70th, though freedom is tightly restricted, at 121st. Where it lags is the roads, which are among the deadliest anywhere, placed 173rd.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Comoros: 7.6
Ranked 51st in the world for the highest homicide rate.
Why this rank?
Seven and a half killings per 100,000 people a year is above the world average of about six, which is where the risky tier begins.
Is it safe to visit?
Take some care. The rate is a third above the world average, though it's an estimate for 850,000 people — a rough guess either way.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Comoros: 29.0
Ranked 8th in the world for the deadliest roads.
Why this rank?
Twenty-nine deaths per 100,000 people a year is nearly double the world average of fifteen.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe on the figure, though it's a rough estimate for tiny islands — Comoros counted 32 deaths, the WHO's estimate is 238.
Conflict
Conflict deaths inside the country in the last twelve months, as recorded by the Uppsala conflict database, civilians killed on purpose, and any UN sanctions or court order over a war. The worst of those sets the colour. Lower is better.
Comoros: 1.18
Ranked 70th least conflict-affected country in the world.
Why this rank?
Nothing in twenty-five years. The last conflict death the Uppsala conflict database records in the Comoros was in September 1997.
Is it safe to visit?
Safe. Coups and an old claim over Mayotte make the politics unsettled, but none of it reaches a visitor.
Freedom
Six freedoms rated 0–4 by Freedom House — protest, speech, press, religion, movement and due process. The weakest rating sets the colour, and the total places the country inside it — higher is better.
Comoros: 5.31
Ranked 60th least free country in the world.
Why this rank?
In the Comoros 4 of the six freedoms are rated 1 and the rest higher. Total 8 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
The president has consolidated power since 2019 by cracking down on the opposition and limiting press freedom. Keep out of politics and daily life is unaffected.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Comoros: Illegal
Ranked 59th least equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
Same-sex acts carry up to five years under a rarely enforced law. Any criminal law is red.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe to be open. A small conservative island society where the law barely needs enforcing, because nothing is visible.
Women's Safety
Women's safety — feeling safe out at night, political violence against women, a fair hearing in court, and how normal violence at home is, with the night figure setting a floor on the colour — higher is better.
Comoros: 6.19
Ranked 40th least safe country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
Sixty percent of women feel safe out alone at night and partner violence is eight percent. The courts are rated near the bottom for women, and 43 percent think wife-beating can be justified.
Is it safe to visit?
A woman travelling alone should take care in the Comoros.