Despite the horrific terror attacks in Brussels and Paris, Europe is considered the safest place for expats to live, according to a new survey.
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Expat relocation consultancy Mercer scrutinised crime, political stability, the effectiveness of policing and cross-border relationships to rank 230 cities that are popular hubs for expats.
The top five were all in Europe – with Luxembourg top, followed by Bern, Switzerland; Helsinki, Zurich and Vienna.
The least safe places were Baghdad, Damascus, Karachi and Nairobi.
The firm revealed that personal safety was a key factor expats take into account when deciding whether to take a posting.
Personal safety is important for expats
“Despite the terror attacks, social unrest and uncertain economic outlook, Europe scored top marks across the board for quality of living,” said a spokesman.
“Safety is a key factor for all companies to consider when asking workers to move to another country because of the employee’s wellbeing and the affect postings to less safe places have on the cost of hiring staff.”
European cities grabbed all the top 10 places as the safest places to live, although some capitals, such as Paris (71) and London (72) dropped due to concerns about terror attacks or social unrest.
The highest ranking Asia Pacific city was Singapore (26).
Several Canadian cities rank high for personal safety, but no US cities are in the top 50. Mexican cities ranked very low because of fears about drug-related gang violence.
Bomb plot mastermind identified by DNA
Meanwhile the hunt to track down bombers and other terrorists who helped in the attack on Brussels airport and metro continues.
The latest official figures say 31 people dies and around 300 were injured in the outrage.
Soldiers and police have carried out several raids on properties suspected as linked to the terrorists and made several arrests.
A security services spokesman said the missing bomber had been identified by DNA as Khalid Zerkhani, aged 42.
Two brothers snapped with him in the airport terminal just prior to the bombs detonating died in the blast along with their victims.
Zerkhani is also said to have links with terrorists who carried out bombings and shootings in France recently.
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