EU lifts restrictive travel advisory for Assam

The European Union (EU) has lifted a restrictive travel advisory for the citizens of its 27 member countries travelling to Assam, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on Saturday (June 20, 2026).

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Most countries in Europe, Oceania, and the Americas began warning their citizens against travelling to the restive northeast States in 1979, when the violent six-year Assam Agitation began, and led to extremism by the United Liberation Front of Asom.

Chief Secretary Ravi Kota had received a letter from Hervé Delphin, the EU’s Ambassador to India, on Friday (June 19, 2026), stating that the 27 European nations had lifted travel curbs for their citizens keen on exploring Assam, Mr. Sarma said.

“After Australia and Japan, EU member-states hahe revised their travel advisories and removed restrictive guidance for their citizens visiting the State,” the Chief Minister posted on social media platform X.

Australia and Japan lifted the restrictions after the State hosted the Advantage Assam 2.0 event in February 2025 to attract foreign investment, he said. “The recent development follows the visit of EU diplomats to Assam, which is a strong vote of confidence for Assam and bodes well for deeper EU-Assam engagement,” Mr. Sarma said.

Also speaking on Facebook Live, he said the travel advisory had been a blot on Assam since 1979. “A State suffers financially when a foreign country views it as trouble-torn, because investments and tourists do not come. I am confident that after this development, the tourist inflow will increase in Assam,” the Chief Minister said.

He also hoped business and people-to-people ties would improve after the EU’s communication.

The Chief Minister advised people in Assam to explore the hospitality sector by building homestays and huts for tourists, stating that foreign tourists usually like to immerse themselves in nature and avoid five-star facilities.

“We can also build nature-based campsites and offer them our indigenous cuisines,” the Chief Minister said.

The restrictions, however, will continue to apply in three districts — Charaideo, Dibrugarh, and Tinsukia in eastern Assam — where the Disturbed Areas Act and the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act remain in force.

These districts, bordering Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, are allegedly used by extremists for hit-and-run operations from their hideouts in the Sagaing division of Myanmar.

The EU member states include Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden.