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Travel Apartheid: The World's Most and Least Powerful Passports for 2022
Germany and South Korea hold onto joint 2 spot on the latest ranking, with passport holders able to access 190 destinations visa-free, while Finland , Italy , Luxembourg , and Spain share 3 place, with a score of 189. The US and the UK passports have regained some of their previous strength after falling all the way to 8 place in 2020 – the lowest spot held by either country in the index's 17-year history. Both countries now sit in 6 place, with a visa-free/visa-on-arrival score of 186.
Dr. Christian H. Kaelin , Chairman of Henley & Partners and the inventor of the passport index concept, says opening up migration channels is essential for post-pandemic recovery. "Passports and visas are among the most important instruments impacting on social inequality worldwide as they determine opportunities for global mobility. The borders within which we happen to be born, and the documents we are entitled to hold, are no less arbitrary than our skin color. Wealthier states need to encourage positive inward migration to help redistribute and rebalance human and material resources worldwide."
Commenting in the Henley Global Mobility Report 2022 Q1, which was released today along with the latest Henley Passport Index ranking, Prof. Mehari Taddele Maru from the Migration Policy Centre points out that "the expensive requirements associated with international travel institutionalize inequality and discrimination. Covid-19 and its interplay with instability and inequality has highlighted and exacerbated the shocking disparity in international mobility between wealthy developed nations and their poorer counterparts."
Remarking in the report on the pandemic's effect on wider geopolitical trends in migration and mobility, Misha Glenny , award-winning journalist and associate professor at Columbia University's Harriman Institute, says "the very presence of Omicron points to a major geopolitical failure. Had the US, Britain , and the EU diverted more money and vaccines to southern Africa , the chances of such a robust new strain emerging would have been much lower. Until we share the distribution of vaccines more equitably, new mutations will have the ability to send us all back to square one."
Dr. Andreas Brauchlin, an internationally renowned cardiology and internal medicine specialist and member of the SIP Medical Family Office Advisory Board in Switzerland , agrees, stating in the report that "an individual's health and vaccination status are as influential on mobility as their passport's visa-free access. Being a resident in the 'wrong' nation can heavily impact on your access to business, health, and medical services, and make it impossible for some to travel."
Read the Full Press Release and Henley Global Mobility Report 2022 Q1.