The Power of the Passport: The World’s Most Unequal Travel Document

When people discuss migration, globalization, and international relations, few items reflect the extent of inequality as much as the passport. As Professors Luuk van der Baaren and Dimitry V. Kochenov show in their article “The Power of Passports: How Paper Booklets Became Tools of Global Stratification” (Migration Policy Institute), the passport has evolved from being a relatively unimportant document into a powerful tool for control, discrimination, and hierarchical order.

At its core, a passport concerns rules and the ability to move—something that, in theory, should be a human right, but in practice has become a privilege. A passport from an EU country, such as Sweden, allows relatively free and open mobility, whereas a passport from Somalia, for example, severely restricts the individual's movement. Some argue that the passport is not a neutral system of identification for all people; instead, it functions in practice like a system of global apartheid and segregation.

Professors van der Baaren and Kochenov emphasize that today’s international passport system is a modern form of global social stratification. Their text shows how the passport, as a bearer of both legal and symbolic power, has become an instrument that reproduces inequalities rather than reducing them. They particularly highlight how the current system most harms stateless persons, refugees, and migrants.

At the same time, they remind us that passports are not just about border control, but about identity and belonging—something that states impose or assign to individuals through definitions of gender, origin, and citizenship. By controlling who is granted a passport and which passports are recognized, states essentially determine who has the right to move—and who does not.

This system benefits those who are already privileged, as wealthy individuals can buy their way into citizenship, obtain “golden visas,” or acquire special passports through investment schemes or diplomatic status. Meanwhile, millions of poor people—mainly from Africa and Asia—are excluded through arbitrary, discriminatory, and even culturally biased regulations, visa requirements, and administrative hurdles. Millions are denied even the opportunity to apply for asylum in a legally secure way, and as of now, there is no formal global citizenship.

Yet humanity today faces a technological revolution that could change this. Through blockchain technology and decentralized digital identity solutions, it is already possible to create forms of digital global citizenship. These systems enable individuals to own their own identity and move and cooperate globally without requiring state-issued passports.

However, the political and social will to change the current order is still lacking in a broader sense. National borders and identity-based exclusion continue to dominate, even though they often serve as obstacles to both freedom and security. For example, support for far-right parties is often strongest among middle-class individuals who think in terms of "freedom for me, not for you," depending on which groups they dislike or fear.

To achieve a more just global system for migration and mobility, people need not only technical solutions but also a shift in mindset and institutions. We must begin to view free movement as a matter of global freedom and justice, and recognize that the passport, as it functions today, is a privilege, not a right.

Thanks for reading. Please follow my blog, write your feedback, and support my writing.