Travel Advisory: Media urged to refrain from disseminating unverified, distorted info

Chief Adviser's press wing on Sunday said certain Indian media outlets are circulating ‘misleading’ reports regarding the US State Department’s travel advisory for Bangladesh, specifically suggesting that the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region has been newly designated as Level 4 – ‘Do Not Travel’ due to communal violence.

"We wish to make it unequivocally clear that this claim is factually incorrect," said the press wing, noting that there has been no change to the advisory level for the Chittagong Hill Tracts or for any other part of Bangladesh.

The US Department of State’s official advisory for Bangladesh was reissued following a routine periodic review, and as stated explicitly in the advisory, only minor edits were made.

The suggestion that the advisory level was newly raised or modified in response to deteriorating security conditions is both inaccurate and misleading.

This misrepresentation of facts reflects a concerning lapse in journalistic standards and raises serious questions about the intent behind such reporting, the press wing said.

"At a time when responsible and fact-based journalism is more important than ever, we urge all media outlets to refrain from disseminating unverified or distorted information."

The current advisory remains as follows:

- The Chittagong Hill Tracts region is designated as Level 4: ‘Do Not Travel’ (a status which has been in place for some time).

- The rest of Bangladesh is designated as Level 3: ‘Reconsider Travel’.

For accurate and official updates on US travel advisories, the press wing encouraged the public and media to consult the US State Department’s website directly.