Unless you are a hard-news journalist, you may want to cross the following places off your ‘possible dream vacation’ list, following a poll which put them at the top of the World’s Most Dangerous Places register.

Sudan, Uganda and the Congo have the dubious honour of being the top three on this tragic list. Reasons such as ongoing wars and resultant death, disease and displacement to the millions of inhabitants were touted as reasons for their nominations.

The poll, carried out by Reuters AlertNet, released its findings on Tuesday, where-in approximately 50% of participants named Sudan, and specifically the western region of Darfur.

Well over a million children in the area are affected, and many of these are recruited to take up arms in the on-going conflicts. These children are especially vulnerable to disease and malnutrition.

Hollywood actor Mia Farrow visited the region last month. She said: “Everyone has lost family, seen villages burn, seen relatives raped, been raped.”

Still struggling to recover from a 21-year long civil war, Sudan faces ongoing violence, poverty and a lack of basic services.

With Uganda and the Congo hot on the heels of Sudan in the poll results, other countries named include Iraq, Somalia, India, the Palestinian territories, Afghanistan, Chechnya and Myanmar. But the top three were by far in the lead.

The children of these countries are seen as the main victims, with malnourishment, child recruitment into the ‘armies’, and resultant physical and psychological trauma named as the biggest negative effects on these innocent lives.