Why do we need a global citizen passport?

First of all, I would like to highlight that the chances for me to be objective about this topic are quite low. Although facts are facts, we all know that what ‘’in theory’’ implies, and what actually happens in the field is quite different.

I don’t know if you have ever noticed, but passports all over the world carry different colors. There is blue, red, and green, but also some peachy colors, like fuchsia and opaline, black on occasions too. Generally speaking, new world countries’ passports are blue while the old continent leans to red. The Middle East countries mostly go green, whereas some African and Asian countries display a large scale of colors.

Nothing seems offensive or harmful about these colors. Yet, societies had unfortunately managed to turn them into something else.

We all know that the United States, Canadian, Scandinavian, or European Union, Japanese, Australian passports can get you pretty much anywhere you want. That’s actually terrific news! People get to see different places, explore the world, and get in touch with other cultures, which sometimes turns out to be a life-changing experience.
Traveling should be an entertaining, relaxing, or even an educating experience. The point is it should be fun.

FUN, not for everyone!

When your passport doesn’t count among the popular ones, I can speak for myself when I say that destination aside, the traveling process is anything but enjoyable. It feels exactly like in high school. When you are not hanging out with the popular kids, either you’re invisible, ignored, or in worst-case scenarios, bullied.

It all starts with something called VISA.

A Travel Visa is an authorization you get from the embassy of the country you want to visit, and applications vary from one embassy to another. Not anyone can apply for it since you need to prove that you’re doing more than well financially. Besides the expensive traveling insurance you must pay for, in some cases, you are required to book a flight before getting the visa. On top of that, there are no guarantees of getting it, even though your application is flawless. Not only are Visas’ fees non-refundable, but also their cost is getting higher over the years. I remember paying 60 euros the first time I applied for a Schengen visa, and two years later, it rose up to 100 euros.

I’m not complaining about the cost, expenses are inevitable for anyone willing to travel. However, I’m definitely pointing out the unspoken deal between insurance companies, travel agencies, and embassies taking advantage of people’s inability to travel without visas to make more profit.

If you’re lucky enough to survive the visa office, don’t catch your breath just yet. People get excited when they go to airports. They illustrate all sorts of mixed-up feelings, including the thrill when you know you will go somewhere new, away from home.

Then reality kicks you in the teeth: You carry a Green passport, and that’s almost a reflex, a warning sign for the authorities. While queueing to get my passport stamped, I once or twice felt like being in court (not that I know what it feels like, just a hunch). Some indiscreet travelers -aka the jury- are staring at the green document as if it were a smoking gun. And after surviving the scrutinizing, the police officer needs to deliver a verdict: Stamping or not!

Sometimes traveling policies feel like they nourish something deeper darker unrelated to safety. Something that exists within all societies:

Non-straightforward racism through passport colors.

Security should be color blind:

Airports security policies get skeptical if a passport was born in developing countries. It almost comes naturally that this passport is never given the benefit of the doubt. The popular belief among authorities is that this particular passport could always be a potential threat after entering.

Yes, terrorist attacks happen,

And No, terrorists are NOT exclusively coming from developing countries. Terrorists exist everywhere. I’m not overlooking safety, it is sacred. However, conceiving people as potential bombers just because of their birthplace, names, Semitic faces is seriously alarming.

I don’t know if you realize the magnitude of how far things have gone!.

It literally implies that not only do we embrace those stereotypes, but also we make policies based on them.

map

Security is a two-way street

Regardless of your passport color or your destination, safety is non-negotiable. That being said, people should be held accountable for the damages they cause while moving from a place to another.

Traveling agenda should not in any way damage the destination, threaten endangered species (or any species overall), nor exploit the locals. Unfortunately, several people from western societies go to developing countries bringing along some damaging investments, like human trafficking and sexual tourism. Another illustration of how detrimental it could get is when investors bring to these countries one the most polluting industries on earth: the fast fashion, and it’s completely legit.

Not only does it damage the human and wildlife habitats, but it viciously takes advantage of lower classes.

The system we’ve created to tackle safety is one-sided. Some choose their journey freely, while others drown in bureaucracy. I’ve been wondering why don’t developing countries establish traveling policies to protect themselves from damaging businesses? The only answer I came up with was: How can you when your country is sinking because of universal disparity and poverty? YOU SIMPLY CAN'T.

We go from harmless-like travel to do business, to undercharging for hard labor, and sometimes not even in safe conditions.
So yes, safety matters indeed!

The real deal about borders

Have you ever wondered why borders are highly selective? To be fair, I’ve never asked myself this until I’ve started working with Coconut Legacy. I’ve never second-thought what boundaries implied.

Thankfully, the 2020 lockdown has given me a lot of time to reconsider everything about life. Why are some allowed to cross borders back and forth while others can’t? What kind of clearance does one have to explore the world, whereas it prevents the other from the same opportunity? Why is one compelled to pay a high price to travel while it takes only backpacking to someone else?

I’m going to answer those three questions with one word: Privilege.

The freedom to move is a privilege. It’s not affordable to all, and that goes beyond financial outcomes.

The possibility to visit places around the universe either is granted to you, or you have to strive to get it. It has to do you with your birthplace, your name, your cultural accessories, your skin color, or even your passport color.

One big country, one big family

Some say that borders are about keeping things in check, I won’t disagree, but what do they mean in-depth? They imply that what’s on the other side is different, not like us, and probably dangerous. Worse, they could be used as a tool to enhance hate between nations.
Yet, what makes us different in the end? Is culture, belief, or language valid criteria to assert that some are worthier than others?

The essence of humanity goes beyond labels and boxes. It’s about the values we carry, like showing compassion, respect, empathy, kindness, and unconditional love to our big family, humanity.

Borders stand for invisible barriers that aim to divide us instead of uniting us. We are equal, the same; we are one big family called HUMANITY!

The Takeaway: A global citizen passpo

‘’I have a dream that one day the universe will rise up and live out the true meaning of its essence, we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all human beings are equal.’’
Dr. Martin Luther King

It might sound almost Utopian to some people, but I would love to see the day when a passport or any other ID will present us, humans, as we are. It might sound foolish, but what if it was possible?

I can’t even imagine how revolutionary it would be to concretely see humans true colors instead of their skin color:
A world where airport policies care about human beings rather than fingerprints,
A world where all human beings would be able to travel to see our big country, planet Earth, regardless of the color of their passports.
A universal Passport, for all of us, global citizens.

To sum up

Privilege comes in many shapes and shades, and passports are unfortunately one of them.

Acknowledging the defectiveness of traveling policies may not change the narrative immediately, but it’s a start. Believing in change and equality means tackling unnoticed regulations and policies that create the worst 3D in humanity: Disparity, Discrimination, and Disunity.

Have you ever thought of the possibility of having a global citizen passport? Would you like to have one? Agree or not, share your perspective with us in the comment section right below!