When Passports Determine a Person’s Fate
When Passports Determine a Person’s Fate How strange it is: someone born in Germany, Canada, Japan, or Switzerland can use their passport to travel to many parts of the world; while someone born in Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, or one of the many countries in the Middle East and Asia may have to wait months for a visa, provide numerous documents, and repeatedly prove that they are not a criminal, that they do not intend to remain illegally in the country, and that they pose no threat to any country. What crime have these people committed? Of course, none. They were simply born in a different geography; a geography they did not choose. In today’s world, a passport is no longer merely an identification document; it has become a measure of human freedom. The color of a passport cover can determine whether someone can travel freely around the world or must wait for months, sometimes even years, behind embassy doors. But the fundamental question is this: Should a person’s wort...