Australia Issues Urgent Travel Alert: The Dark Trend That Could Cost You Your Life

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Australians travelling to Afghanistan have been given a fresh — and grim — warning from authorities against travelling to the war-ravaged nation, with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAT) advising people that death is possible and to prepare a will beforehand.

DFAT’s Smartraveller issued a new alert on Tuesday, issuing travel advice against travelling to the central Asian nation, due to the “dangerous and volatile” security risks and the potential for armed conflict to escalate without warning.

It said Australians had been kidnapped, arbitrarily detained and targeted by terrorist attacks in Afghanistan.

“If you go to Afghanistan against our advice, you’re responsible for your own safety,” the website said, adding that Australia did not have an embassy in the capital, Kabul, and consular support was severely limited.

“Understand that traveling there carries the risk of death, so it’s crucial to make a will before you leave.”

The advice is an escalation in language from previous warnings issued by Smartraveller.

In June, the site warned travellers not to travel to Afghanistan “due to the extremely dangerous security situation and the very high threat of terrorism and kidnapping”.

“If you choose to travel to Afghanistan against our advice, be aware that there is a significant risk of becoming a target for terrorist attacks or kidnappings. Your safety cannot be guaranteed in Afghanistan,” the advisory warns.

This trend has attracted fierce criticism from human rights organizations, which argue that content creators are at risk of inadvertently legitimizing the Taliban regime. According to a 2023 United Nations report, this regime is considered the “most repressive” government concerning the rights of girls and women.

Since the withdrawal of United States troops in August 2021, Afghanistan’s tourism industry has reportedly experienced a surge, with Taliban officials claiming 14,500 foreign tourists visited in the three years to December 2024.

Since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, Abbasi noted that Afghanistan has likely become the worst country in the world regarding women’s rights.

Sydney-based tour guide Paris Hailwood, who runs women-only trips to Afghanistan, previously told SBS News that was important for people to form their own opinions about the country, noting she had been welcomed despite Australia’s involvement in the US-led war.

“It’s a country that we’ve heard so much about, and people really now have the opportunity to go and see it free of weapons and tanks and drones,” she said.

Human Rights Watch researcher Fereshta Abbasi decried posts by influencers as “very harmful” and misrepresenting life for women under the Taliban.

“It’s a very dark picture,” she told SBS News.

Since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, Abbasi said Afghanistan likely had the worst women’s rights record in the world.

Australian traveller Jess Davis also documented her trip to Afghanistan, describing it as “the most amazing time” and among her most favourite travel experiences.

But she also described the treatment of Afghan women as a “massive injustice” that was “seemingly ignored by the world”.

“I experienced the same warm hospitality that dominates this region of the world from nearly everyone, and as tourism is being promoted by the Taliban, I also never doubted my safety,” she wrote in a July 2025 post.

“It is however, extremely privileged visiting as a western woman as the experience and freedoms I had are completely different than the reality for locals.”

DFAT has maintained a ‘do not travel’ advisory for Afghanistan for many years.