A " no-go area " or " no-go zone " is a neighborhood or other geographic area where some or all outsiders are either physically prevented from entering or can enter at risk.
The term includes exclusion zones , which are areas that are officially kept off-limits by the government, such as border zones and military exclusion zones. In other cases, the areas simply coexist alongside the state; an example is Kowloon Walled City , an area in Hong Kong essentially ruled by triad organizations from the s to the s. In the 21st century, the term has most often been used to refer to areas that police or medical workers consider too dangerous to enter without heavy backup.
Government officials and journalists from various European countries, including France [ 3 ] and Germany, [ 4 ] have used the term to describe neighborhoods within their own country. This usage of the term is controversial, generating significant debate over which areas, if any, are truly off-limits to police.
With no government enforcement from the British colonial government aside from a few raids by the Hong Kong Police , the Kowloon Walled City became a haven for crime and drugs. It was only during a trial for a murder that occurred within the Walled City that the Hong Kong government was ruled to have jurisdiction there.
By this time, however, the Walled City was virtually ruled by the organised crime syndicates known as Triads. Beginning in the s, Triad groups such as the 14K and Sun Yee On gained a stranglehold on the Walled City's countless brothels , gambling parlors , and opium dens.
