Last updated on October 7th, 2024 at 03:27 pm
The world is filled with borders that divide nations, but some are far more treacherous than others. These dangerous international boundaries are marked by intense conflict, political tension, and frequent armed encounters, putting lives at serious risk. From militarized zones to regions torn apart by war, crossing these borders can be a life-threatening ordeal.
In this article, we explore the 11 most dangerous borders in the world, highlighting the ongoing struggles and extreme dangers faced by those living in or attempting to cross these volatile areas.
The borders that we draw between countries are often much more complicated than a line on a map. There are long borders, countries that border many other countries, countries that only border one other country, and even two doubly landlocked countries.
The following is a list of countries whose borders are known to be quite tumultuous and dangerous, and in some cases, are impassable.
Most Dangerous International Borders
Table of Contents
11. Iraq-Iran Border
One of the most dangerous borders in the world lies between Iraq and Iran, running exactly from the Shatt-al-Arab river to the Turkish border. Though the boundary has been defined for hundreds of years, disputes over the territory (specifically, over use of the river) have been ongoing.
In 1980, Iraq accused Iran of illegally occupying Iraqi territory and launched missiles. Eight years and 1 million lives later, the two countries signed a UN peace resolution. Even this, however, did not stop fighting, and cross-border attacks have continued.
Iranian security forces attack regularly the Iraqi marginalised group, Kurdish curriers who believe the Iranian forces place landmines on the border killing them, according to Human Rights Watch.
The border couriers of Iran-Iraq typically transport consumer goods legally available for sale which includes a range of items such as tea, packaged foods, electronics, textiles, footwear, clothing, kitchenware, health and beauty products, tires, mobile phones, and occasionally cigarettes.
One such cross-border currier, Arkar Balveseh 29, was killed by the Iranian force in June this year, while others losse thier limbs to landmines.
The Kurdistan Press Agency, known as Kurdpa, reported that at least 44 were killed and 463 injured between March 21, 2023, and March 21, 2024.
According to the report, military forces were responsible for over 80 per cent of these casualties, and that at least 28 of the casualties were children. In a separate report, Kurdpa provided statistics indicating that from 2011 to 2024, at least 2,463 couriers have been killed and injured from the Iranian Kurdish regions of Kurdistan, Kermanshah, and Western Azerbaijan.
10. Pakistan-Afghanistan Border
The border between Pakistan and Afghanistan is called the Durand Line and stretches for 1,510 miles. The disputes here date back over many years and in recent times, the border was disputed by the Taliban and later the Afghanistan president in 2001.
In 2003, military forces from both sides were involved in armed conflict there and 4 years later, Pakistan began constructing fence lines as a means to keep Taliban militants from crossing. The danger here is in the lack of government control with people on all sides carrying arms, and this site sees illegal smuggling, murders, and kidnappings.
Most recently, a major highway connecting the two countries was closed down due to a disagreement over a Pakistani-constructed gate. The dispute ended in cross-border shootings that left 3 dead and 24 wounded.
Along with Afghan civilians being killed by the Pakistan border forces, Pakistan fired nearly 800 rockets targeting civilians inside Afghanistan.
The Afghan statement claimed that attacks by Pakistan resulted in the deaths of 42 Afghan civilians, including 30 men and 12 women and girls, wounded 55 others and destroyed 120 homes
9. China-North Korea Border
China and North Korea are separated by two rivers, the Tumen and Yalu, and the Paektu mountains.
The border here has poor security and receives many people fleeing North Korea. Over the last decade, both countries have begun to construct fences and walls. Since the beginning of Kim Jong-Il’s regime and with increased North Korean immigrants in China, territorial disputes have become a concern.
There have also been reports of North Korean soldiers crossing the border to steal food and money as low-level officers receive small food rations. In April 2016, China deployed around 2,000 troops to the border after reports that Pyongyang is planning nuclear testing.
The Reuter reporter who visited the China-North Korean border in 2028 writes, “The borders of North Korea are an extreme example – nowhere in the world is there such a difference between what life looks like on opposite sides of the river or the fences that separate the two countries. I know – I’ve seen the frontier from both sides.
China has confirmed that 4 Chinese citizens were killed along the border, investigations are pending.
8. Colombia-Ecuador Border
Disputes between Colombia and Ecuador have increased in recent years due to a Colombian rebel group referred to as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (the People’s Army or FARC).
On various occasions, the Colombian government has sent military troops into Ecuadorian territory in an attempt to attack the group. FARC members have invaded land along the border and are an extremely violent group using mortars and landmines which have forced thousands of indigenous members off of their tribal land. This group is responsible for killing over 200,000 people in the last fifty years.
Recent murder rates in border towns have reached as high as 96 per 100,000 people. Because the Ecuadorian president argued that the Colombian military had no permission to cross the border, the Colombian government has accused Ecuador of harbouring terrorists. Ecuador has since increased efforts to remove FARC.
Infested mostly with drug trafficking the Colombia-Ecuador border is termed as an “out of control border” by The Guardian. The involvement of FARC (the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) with drug trafficking makes the situation even worse.
7. Niger-Chad Border
One of the deadliest terror groups in the world, the insurgency of Boko Haram, can be found along the Niger-Chad border. To fight this group, Chad has sent 2,000 troops to a border town located, Bosso, on the Niger side.
Violence in this town has sent more than 17,000 people fleeing. Since the arrival of the troops, 32 soldiers (30 from Chad and 2 from Niger and 55 terrorists have lost their lives.
These two countries have had joint army operations since the beginning of 2015. Affected by terrorism and refugee transportation, the border is in constant unrest.
6. Yemen-Saudi Arabia Border
The 1,100-mile border between Yemen and Saudi Arabia has seen very high levels of violence.
The two countries have experienced violent conflict for the last 65 years. Saudi Arabia has seen an increase in smuggled weapons, Al Qaeda terrorists, and economic refugees (from Ethiopia, Yemen, and Somalia) that prompted the government to build a wall.
Yemen opposes the barrier stating that it infringes upon shepherd grazing rights. The two countries have officially been at war since March 2015. An estimated 6,000 civilians and soldiers have been killed since the beginning of the war. In one day alone, 15 missiles and 130 mortars are launched into Saudi Arabia.
According to reports from Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Saudi border guards have killed hundreds of Ethiopian migrants and asylum seekers attempting to cross the Yemen-Saudi border between March 2022 and June 2023. HRW’s 73-page report, “They Fired on Us Like Rain: Saudi Arabian Mass Killings of Ethiopian Migrants at the Yemen-Saudi Border”, documents the use of explosive weapons and close-range shootings by Saudi guards.
Women and children were among the victims of these systematic attacks, which, if part of a government policy, could amount to crimes against humanity.
Migrants often crossed the Gulf of Aden in unsafe vessels, only to be subjected to abuse, extortion, or detention by Houthi forces in Yemen before attempting to cross the border into Saudi Arabia. Human Rights Watch interviewed 42 people, including 38 migrants, and analyzed over 350 videos, photographs, and satellite images to corroborate these claims.
Accounts describe Saudi guards asking migrants which limb to shoot, using explosive weapons, and shooting at close range. Many migrants witnessed gruesome scenes of death and dismemberment, with bodies strewn across the border landscape.
The International Organization for Migration and other humanitarian groups have also reported widespread abuses against migrants, including mass shootings, beatings, and detentions.
According to the Mixed Migration Centre (MMC), Saudi authorities killed over 400 migrants in three months in 2022 alone. The UN and MMC have highlighted evidence of systematic violence, including sexual abuse, torture, and mass graves, with little international response or accountability.
Despite the growing body of evidence, Saudi Arabia has yet to conduct an official investigation into the killings, and international efforts to address the ongoing atrocities remain minimal.
5. Bangladesh-India Border
Bangladesh and India share a 4,096-kilometre-long border, one of the longest in the world.
The border is intricate and made up of confusing enclaves, sometimes with Indian land surrounded by Bangladeshi territory within Indian territory! It is a common route for smuggled goods from India to Bangladesh and undocumented immigrants from Bangladesh to India.
Due to the high levels of immigration, Indian Border Security Forces have a shoot-on-sight policy. Although sometimes, “illegal crossings” are a result of the complicated border lines and is an attempt to reach separate Bangladeshi territory.
The border between India and Bangladesh, spanning 4,096 kilometres, is one of the world’s longest land borders, and it has been the site of frequent tension, particularly regarding the actions of the Indian Border Security Force (BSF).
The border is marked by sporadic violence, smuggling, and human rights violations. According to a report by the human rights group Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK), a local legal aid and human rights advocacy organisation in Bangladesh, the number of killings of Bangladeshi nationals by the BSF has seen a rise in recent years, despite commitments from both governments to reduce such incidents.
Statistics of Killings and Casualties:
- Recent Trends: In the first quarter of 2023, at least six Bangladeshi nationals were killed by the BSF, compared to four in the same period in 2022. This marks an increase in killings at the border.
- Historical Data: Between 2000 and 2020, at least 1,236 Bangladeshis were killed and 1,145 were injured by the BSF, according to Odhikar, another rights organization. Additionally, ASK data reveals that 23 Bangladeshis were killed along the India-Bangladesh border between January 2021 and June 2022.
- Current Year (2023): In January 2023, two significant incidents occurred: a member of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Sepoy Mohammad Roisuddin, was killed by BSF fire along the Jashore border, and another Bangladeshi was killed along the Lalmonirhat border. These incidents highlight the ongoing violence despite efforts to curb such actions.
- Three-Year Summary: In the past three years, at least 73 Bangladeshis have been killed along the border. Of these, 60 were shot, and six were tortured to death.
Causes and Responses:
The BSF often claims that its personnel open fire in self-defense against smugglers or criminals. However, human rights organizations and victims’ families refute this, pointing to instances where innocent civilians are caught in the violence.
The killings have sparked condemnation from both Bangladeshi officials and rights organizations, with repeated calls for joint investigations and more humane border management.
Despite various high-level agreements between Bangladesh and India, such as a commitment in 2022 between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to reduce border deaths to zero, the violence persists.
The use of non-lethal weapons agreed upon in previous bilateral meetings, has not effectively reduced fatalities.
Broader Human Rights Concerns:
In addition to killings, there are reports of abductions, torture, and harassment by the BSF. From 2013 to 2023, nearly 500 civilians were abducted by the BSF, with only a fraction returned to Bangladesh. Torture methods include physical beatings, mutilation, and even burnings. These acts have raised significant concerns about the BSF’s behaviour and accountability.
The border remains a volatile zone despite the historically strong diplomatic and economic ties between Bangladesh and India. The ongoing violence, smuggling activities, and the use of lethal force continue to challenge the notion of peace and friendship between the two nations.
4. Mexico-US Border
The Mexico-US border runs from California to Texas for a total of 1,989 miles and has the highest number of legal, annual border crossings in the world.
It passes near large urban areas and over desolate deserts. The approximately 20,000 border patrol agents are clustered around big cities effectively leaving the desert unguarded.
This pushes the 500,000 people trying to cross the border illegally into the desert where several hundred die every year. The zone is particularly dangerous in the El Paso-Juarez region which is known for narcotics traffickers who smuggle drugs, weapons, and people over the border.
While 125 people died at the hands of the US Border Patrol, Agents since 2010, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 8,050 people have died crossing the U.S–Mexico border between 1998 and 2020. In 2005, more than 500 died across the entire U.S.–Mexico border.
Hundreds of individuals have died here after violent encounters between the police and gang groups. The violence has spread into American territory.
3. Israel-Syria Border
The border dispute between Israel and Syria date back many years. In the early 1920s, Britain drew the borders giving the Syrian side to France. Then again later to include the Golan Heights.
It is this area that has been heavily contested for nearly 100 years. The two countries have been at war several times taking control of various pieces of land. Today, the border is a live battle zone with bullets flying from both sides.
The violence has markedly increased since the Syrian Civil War began.
2. India-Pakistan Border
The India-Pakistan border is 1,800 miles of heavily guarded and extremely dangerous land.
It is so heavily guarded that it is the only border seen from space due to the high voltage flood lights on the Indian side. Since the 1947 partition which saw hundreds of thousands die, the countries have fought in 3 other wars and spent at least 25 years disputing claims to the Kashmir province as well as a mountain glacier.
On September 18, 2023, a 62-year-old civilian in Pakistan-administered Kashmir was killed by “unprovoked” firing from Indian border guards in the Nikial sector of the LoC.
The incident also injured three women. This was not an isolated case: in June 2023, two civilians were killed by Indian fire in a similar incident, marking the first major exchange of fire since the 2021 ceasefire agreement. India, in response, claimed that the people involved were attempting to cross the border illegally.
In May 2023, an Indian shooting incident led to the death of a young man who had accidentally crossed into Indian-administered Kashmir, further illustrating the dangers faced by civilians along the LoC.
Prior to the 2021 ceasefire, the LoC experienced years of intense cross-border firing, resulting in numerous casualties, both civilian and military.
Human rights organizations report that thousands of people have been killed in Kashmir-related violence since 1989 when insurgent groups began their fight for either independence from India or unification with Pakistan.
The Indian military frequently accuses Pakistan of supporting these insurgent groups, which Islamabad denies, asserting that it only provides diplomatic and moral support.
Civilians living near the LoC are particularly vulnerable, as they are often caught in the crossfire. Many have been killed or wounded while tending to agricultural activities near the border, like the 62-year-old man mentioned above. These incidents not only result in direct loss of life but also perpetuate an atmosphere of fear and trauma for those living in the region.
Military Clashes
Alongside civilian casualties, there have been frequent military skirmishes between Indian forces and suspected militants in Indian-administered Kashmir. For instance, in July 2024, four Indian soldiers were killed in an ambush by suspected insurgents in Kashmir’s Kathua district. On the same day, two separate gunfights in Kulgam resulted in the deaths of two Indian soldiers and six militants. Such incidents underscore the ongoing conflict between Indian forces and militant groups seeking either independence or unification with Pakistan.
The region of Kashmir, claimed in full by both India and Pakistan but controlled in parts, has been the focus of three wars between the two countries: in 1948, 1965, and 1971. Both sides accuse the other of violating ceasefires and engaging in proxy wars through support of insurgents.
The dispute over Kashmir continues to be one of the most intractable conflicts in the world, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths among civilians, insurgents, and soldiers over the decades.
The number of casualties has passed the 50,000 lives mark.
1. South Korea-North Korea Border
The Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) is the 160-mile boundary between North and South Korea.
This area is heavily guarded by troops on both sides and is complete with barbed wire and active landmines. The end of the Korean War did nothing to end hostilities between the two nations, they have been warring for more than 60 years and do not recognize each other’s sovereign status. Hundreds of people have died under these tense circumstances, including American citizens.
The North Korea-South Korea border, particularly along the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and the Northern Limit Line (NLL), has been a hotbed of violent incidents, clashes, and casualties since the Korean Armistice Agreement of 1953, which ended large-scale military conflict but did not resolve tensions. A history of infiltrations, naval battles, and aerial confrontations underscores the volatility of this region.
Casualties and Death Statistics:
- Infiltrations and Skirmishes (1954-1992):
- Between 1954 and 1992, 3,693 armed North Korean agents infiltrated South Korea, with 20% of these incidents occurring between 1967 and 1968.
- The Korean DMZ Conflict (1966–1969) resulted in 75 American soldiers, 299 South Korean soldiers, and 397 North Korean soldiers killed.
- The USS Pueblo Incident in 1968 led to the capture of 83 American crew members, with one sailor killed.
- Naval Clashes:
- Naval skirmishes, often referred to as “Crab Wars” due to disputes over rich fishing grounds, have led to several violent incidents. Notably, the First Battle of Yeonpyeong in 1999 resulted in multiple casualties, and the Second Battle of Yeonpyeong in 2002 led to the deaths of six South Korean sailors.
- Artillery and Military Engagements:
- In March 2010, the ROKS Cheonan, a South Korean navy vessel, was allegedly sunk by a North Korean torpedo, killing 46 South Korean sailors.
- In November 2010, North Korea fired artillery on Yeonpyeong Island, killing two South Korean marines and two civilians, and injuring several others.
- Recent Border Incidents:
- May 2020: A South Korean guard post was hit by multiple bullets from North Korea, leading to return fire. No casualties were reported, but the tension escalated.
- December 2022: Five North Korean drones crossed into South Korea, triggering the scrambling of South Korean aircraft, one of which crashed.
These incidents highlight the ongoing risks along the DMZ and the NLL, where regular clashes and provocations continue to cause military and civilian casualties despite various ceasefire agreements.
Tensions are so heavy that the DMZ was created as a sort of buffer zone to keep the countries and their respective military forces at a safe distance from each other. Anyone who tries to cross the line will be shot.
