Safety abroad and crisis management
Leiden University has policies in place regarding travel restrictions for students and staff within the context of their studies, work or research. The basis of these restrictions are the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs travel advisories.
Travel Restrictions
These color-coded advisories are categorised as follows:
Green |
No particular safety risks |
Yellow |
Use caution, some safety risks |
Orange |
Essential travel only |
Red |
Do not travel here |
Students
For purposes related to their studies at Leiden University, students are not permitted to travel to or through regions that are classified as orange or red. Leiden’s International Relations office and Faculty International Coordinators are aware of these travel advisories and do not send students on exchange to partners if their travel advisory becomes orange or red. Likewise, Leiden does not sign exchange agreements with institutions in regions that are orange or red. Students are not permitted to undertake an internship, do research or fieldwork, or other study-related activity in a region with this classification. Programmes and examination boards are advised not to approve plans or grant credit for study-related activities in these regions.
If the destination is code orange, the university may allow a student to travel or remain there in the following two situations:
- The destination is the home country and the student is already there.
- It can be ascertained from the travel advice that the country has only been designated orange due to it imposing travel restrictions (quarantine) on visitors from the Netherlands - in other words, not due to unsafe circumstances. Read more about what travel advice colour codes mean (in Dutch).
In both cases they must request permission from the International Incident Team (IIT).
For more information please visit our student FAQ page.
Staff
Leiden University has a policy on staff travel to high risk areas and offers advice for staff traveling abroad.