Mongolia 2008 Crime & Safety Report

 

Mongolia and Ulaanbaatar are generally safe places to visit.  Mongolians accept foreigners readily and are congenial hosts.  There is no known specific threat to Americans.  The poor economic situation, however, makes foreigners easy targets for petty crime such as pick-pocketing and muggings.  While there are few reported cases of crimes involving firearms in Mongolia, there has been a significant increase in pick-pocketing and muggings at knifepoint over the past few years.  This is attributed to the large number of unemployed people, and more are moving to the city from the countryside. Visitors walking around Ulaanbaatar and other Mongolian cities should carry only the money they expect to need; they should leave their passports, wallets, and other valuables in the hotel safe or in another safe place.  Visitors should be especially cautious at night and in crowded public places, particularly Narantuul covered market (the former “black market”), within and in front of the State Department Store, the post office, Flower Market shopping center, crowded sporting events, and the bar district along the inner ring road.

 

 

 

Driving in Ulaanbaatar is hectic and dangerous.  Most Mongolian drivers tend to ignore traffic laws and prefer to drive wherever there is an opening in traffic.  This leads to numerous accidents and traffic jams.  Drivers should be cautious around pedestrians under the influence of alcohol, especially during the winter months.  Pedestrians in Ulaanbaatar and other Mongolian cities should be careful when crossing streets.  Other than crosswalks, vehicles have the right of way and exercise that right.  Pedestrians should also be wary of Ulaanbaatar’s many open manholes and stray dogs, which carry rabies.

 

It is advised that foreign visitors wishing to travel outside of Ulaanbaatar make all travel and transportation arrangements through recognized travel agencies/operators.  All visitors are encouraged to register with the embassy and can do so online at www.travel.state.gov.

 

 

 

Mongolia is generally a peaceful country with few incidents of political violence, violent demonstrations, or civil unrest.  There were a few small-scale, largely peaceful political demonstrations in 2006 organized by the Mongolian Student Federation, the Civil Movement for a Healthy Society, and the Radical Reform Movement.  These demonstrations targeted the government following the collapse of the coalition government in January 2006.  A later demonstration and hunger strike targeted governmental corruption and the government’s response to a marketplace fire that resulted in the loss of hundreds of shop stalls and small businesses.  The demonstrations resulted in snarled traffic as well as some minor injuries and few arrests, none involving foreigners.  Police response in all situations was restrained.  National security and police agencies continue to investigate the 1998 assassination of the founder of the Democratic Movement and then-Minister Zorigt.

 

There have been no reports of terrorist attacks or indigenous terrorist presence in Mongolia in the recent past.  While some crimes, such as cattle rustling, are considered by the Mongolian National Police to be organized, the police report that there are no known organized criminal groups, gangs, or families operating in Mongolia.

 

Mongolian authorities are cognizant of their porous borders and are wary of the possibility of transnational terrorists entering the country.  Authorities pay close attention to visitors from countries that have historically been the home of transnational terrorists.

 

Major large-scale demonstrations and acts of civil disobedience are uncommon.  There is a small but active and vocal nationalist movement that has staged small protests targeting international mining consortiums.  One protest did result in the protesters overturning a company van.

 

 

 

Although Mongolia does not suffer frequent earthquakes or have recurring, severe flooding problems, it does become bitterly cold.  From late September to mid May, temperatures fall to below zero degrees Fahrenheit and stay in the minus teens for extended period.  Ulaanbaatar is centrally heated by coal-powered, hot water/electricity plants; heat is supplied from September 15 to May 15.  There is no shortage of fuel; coal is mined in abundance near Ulaanbaatar.  In the early and mid 1990s, however, the Ulaanbaatar city power plants were near to collapse from lack of financial and technical support.  Foreign donor assistance, including from USAID, helped to refurbish the power plants.  Over 70% of the city’s electricity and heat is supplied by one plant that is in need of updating.  A failure in this plant would have catastrophic consequences.

 

Mongolia is a land-locked country with limited transportation connections: international flights provide service to Moscow, Seoul, Tokyo, and Beijing; a north-south railroad line connects Ulaanbaatar to Russia (Ulan Ude and Irkutsk) and China (Erlian); and an unimproved paved road runs parallel to the north-south railroad.  The lack of an all-year, paved domestic road network and of reliable domestic air transportation is a significant problem.  There have been several helicopter crashes in the past year.  Most rotary wing assets are former Soviet aircraft and there is a shortage of repair parts.

 

 

 

Americans who are detained or arrested should contact the embassy as soon as possible.  Foreigners who are the subjects of a criminal investigation or complaint if not detained will not be able to leave the country until the charges are cleared, even for petty crimes such as shoplifting.  Retaining local legal counsel for even minor offenses is strongly encouraged.  There are no reports of police harassment of Americans.

 

Americans seeking assistance can call the American Citizen Services section at the embassy’s consular section at 976-11-329-095 during working hours (M-F, 8:30-5pm) or the embassy duty officer after working hours and on weekends and holidays at 976-99-114-168.  Ulaanbaatar police can be contacted at 102, but there are not normally English-speaking policemen on duty.

 

 

 

Few, if any, Mongolian hospitals meet western standards.  Ambulances are unreliable.  Medical facilities in the countryside are sub-standard.

 

SOS International, a private, for-profit health provider, opened a clinic in Ulaanbaatar in 2004.  They can be reached by telephone at 976-11-464-325 or by cell at 919-131-22.  The clinic is expensive and requires payment upon receipt of services.  SOS International takes MasterCard, Visa, or cash as payment.  It is important that your health insurance be up to date.  Filing an insurance claim for reimbursement is the responsibility of the patient.

 

U.S. Embassy Ulaanbaatar highly recommends that foreign visitors/tourists purchase emergency medical evacuation insurance, from SOS International or comparable firms, or the equivalent, for the duration of their visit.  Contact SOS International in the U.S. at 1-800-523-6586 for advice.  SOS International medical evacuation insurance can be purchased online; for price quotes, please see www.internationalsos.com/buymembership.  One uninsured medical evacuation three years ago required the patient’s family to pay US $70,000.  This did not include the cost of hospitalization in Seoul.

 

Note: the plague is still common in rural Mongolia, with half a dozen reported cases annually.  Visitors to Mongolia should bring their own medical supplies and drugs if they have health concerns.  While many over-the-counter drugs such as cold, fever, and painkiller medications are becoming more readily available, visitors should consider bringing enough over-the-counter and prescription medicines to last for the duration of their visit to Mongolia.  The embassy cannot provide visitors with any medical supplies or medications.

 

 

 

Pickpockets, including children, may attempt to jostle and rob foreign visitors leaving and entering stores.  Likewise, the large and crowded wholesale market called Narantuul (or “black market"), the State Department Store, post office, the Flower Market shopping center, and crowded sporting events or other areas frequented by foreigners are favorite haunts of thieves, pickpockets, and panhandlers.  Visitors should be extremely cautious after dark.  It is not uncommon for visitors and expatriates to be accosted by confrontational Mongolians under the influence of alcohol, especially in cases of foreign men who are in the company of Mongolian women.

 

Visitors to Ulaanbaatar are cautioned to avoid taking unmarked “bandit” taxis and to avoid taxis that are occupied by two or more individuals.  It is best to have someone from the hotel, restaurant, or store call for a taxi from a reliable taxi service and provide an estimated taxi fare.  Ulaanbaatar taxi drivers are quick to overcharge foreigners but will settle for the correct fare when confronted about the overcharge.  Have a native speaker write down the address of your destination in Mongolia since many taxi drivers do not speak or read English.  It should be noted that marked taxis are only found in Ulaanbaatar.  Taxi service in other Mongolian cities is only offered by private drivers.

 

While there are no locations considered to be avoided, visitors should be wary of traveling alone in the less developed sections and “ger (yurt) districts” of Ulaanbaatar, especially after dark.

 

Mongolia’s financial infrastructure is still limited and the use of credit cards is limited.  The upside is that crimes involving credit cards, such as skimming, have not caught on yet in Mongolia.  ATMs are infrequent and unreliable.  The few existing units are VISA-only.  Travelers should be extremely alert when using ATMs in public places and wary of anyone following them after using an ATM.  Western-oriented businesses and hotels accept credit cards – Visa, MasterCard, and American Express.  Hotels provide official currency exchange.

 

 

 

Contact U.S. Embassy Ulaanbaatar during duty hours at 976-11-329-095.  For after-hours emergencies, contact the embassy duty officer at 976-991-141-68.  The embassy fax is 976-11-320-776.  Visit the embassy website at http://ulaanbaatar.usembassy.gov.  There is no 24-hour American presence at the embassy.  The Regional Security Officer, John Koretke, can be reached at 976-11-329-095.

 

 

 

There is no OSAC Country Council in Mongolia.  However, the embassy works closely with the North American Mongolian Business Council.

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