Subject: Negative travel advice, on behalf of the board of VVL

Schalkhaar, july 6, 2025

We are sorry to have to disappoint you with regard to your plans for a future veterans' trip with us to Lebanon.

Events in the Middle East have moved quickly. The situation is horrific for many people and still shows no sign of improvement.
As the board of Veterans for Lebanon, we are saddened to see innocent people in different countries bearing the brunt of violence. For their sake, we can only hope that it won't escalate further and that peace will return to the region as soon as possible.
Lebanon has enjoyed relative calm in recent years, which made the return trips a great experience for us and our fellow travellers.
This was evident on each visit, not only for us, but also for the locals.
Wherever we went on each of our trips, we were welcomed with enthusiasm, open arms and beautiful words of gratitude and fond memories.

The situation in Lebanon is now so uncertain. Sadly, it has now become impossible to travel.

 A new travel advice for Lebanon has just been published.

In short:
- Due to tensions between Iran and Israel, the security situation in the entire Middle East is unpredictable. 
- Since November 27, 2024, there has been a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel. The situation in Lebanon remains uncertain. 
- The color code of the travel advice for Lebanon is red. Whatever your situation, don't travel there. It is too dangerous. The Dutch embassy will probably not be able to help you if you get into trouble.

Read the information on https://www.nederlandwereldwijd.nl/crisis/regelen-in-crisissituatie to be prepared in crisis situations.

Read the entire travel advice: https://www.nederlandwereldwijd.nl/reisadvies/libanon

The safety and security of all travellers has always been at the forefront of every trip and will continue to be so in the future. Only when peace is restored can we consider whether travel to Lebanon is possible. That could mean not being able to go at all in 2025. Every trip requires a long period of preparation, and we will only be able to start doing that when it is as safe to travel as it was before the 7th of October 2023.
Keeping the current waiting lists and moving forward is not desirable for anyone, as there can be a lot of change in people's schedules in the space of a year. We will therefore be deleting all of the existing waiting lists and deleting all of your details.

As soon as we are in a position to organise trips again, we will post information on our website and on our Facebook page. Our advice is to keep an eye on these pages for updates.
Hopefully this is enough information for you and we hope that we can meet again in the future in preparation for a special trip to a safe Lebanon.

Kind regards,

Jeannet Kleine Schaars
Secretary VVL