🇸🇾 Syrian Arab Republic (سوريا)
Visiting: High Risk
Syria carries serious safety risks. Same-sex relationships are criminalised, which places it 122nd for LGBT rights, so LGBT travellers should weigh this carefully. Beyond that, violent crime is moderate, ranking 75th, though freedom is tightly restricted, at 148th. Where it lags is the roads, which are among the deadliest anywhere, placed 175th, and women's safety is extremely poor, ranking 174th.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Syria: 2.4
Ranked 75th in the world for the lowest homicide rate.
Why this rank?
Under two and a half killings per 100,000 people a year counts as low. The safest countries sit under one.
Is it safe to visit?
Don't read anything into the homicide figure, a wartime WHO estimate — Syria last counted in 2010. The Conflict score is what matters here.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Syria: 29.9
Ranked 6th in the world for the deadliest roads.
Why this rank?
Thirty deaths per 100,000 people a year on the WHO's estimate is a whisker under double the world average of fifteen.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe on the estimate, and two-thirds of the deaths are people on foot.
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.
Syria: 3.61
Ranked 26th most conflict-affected country in the world.
Why this rank?
535 people died in fighting inside Syria in the year to July 2026, 271 of them civilians killed on purpose.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe, just inside the red. Israeli strikes and incursions continue in the south, Suwayda is unstable, and Islamic State has bombed Damascus again.
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.
Syria: 2.73
Ranked 33rd least free country in the world.
Why this rank?
In Syria due process is rated 0, meaning absent, so the courts offer no protection if anything goes wrong. Total 8 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
After the fall of the Assad government in December 2024, journalism and private expression have more room. Courts offer no protection, and ethnic and sectarian violence persists. Take the security situation seriously.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Syria: Illegal
Ranked 59th least equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
Article 520 of the 1949 code punishes same-sex acts with up to three years, unchanged since the Assad government fell in 2024. The new authorities enforce it and have stepped up raids. Red by law.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe. The government that took power in 2024 has kept the ban and stepped up the crackdown, with app entrapment, raids and arrests driving many abroad.
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.
Syria: 3.16
Ranked 7th least safe country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
Only 17 percent of women feel safe out alone at night, the lowest share recorded. Attacks on women were recorded throughout 2024 and the courts are rated near the bottom.
Is it safe to visit?
Syria is a high-risk destination for a woman travelling alone.