Portugal again appears in the top five on the list of “strongest” passports in the world. According to New update of Henley Passport Code Released this Tuesday, there are only 13 passports that provide access to more countries without the need to apply for a visa in advance.
The Portuguese passport is re-attached to Ireland, allowing holders of both to travel to 184 countries. It maintains the same status as the last update released at the beginning of the last quarter of 2021.
The result is a report by Henley & Partners, an expert consulting globally on Citizenship and Residence Consulting, which compiles quarterly information on passports that have facilitated travel since 2006. 199 countries have been analyzed.
“Travel racism” is intensifying
In the latest edition, passports from Japan and Singapore are strong.
The top 10 passports that offer the most mobility are dominated by EU countries, with only minor changes compared to the previous version. France, the Netherlands and Sweden moved up one place to fourth.
The UK and US, which shared the top spot in the rankings in 2014, have also improved somewhat back, now in sixth place. Other non-EU countries in the top 10 are South Korea (2nd), New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland (6th), Australia and Canada (7th).
In contrast, the “weak” passport belongs to Afghanistan, which allows its citizens to access only 26 countries (166 fewer countries than the first rank). Last places are Iraq (28) and Syria (29).
Although the movement has been on the rise since code was created in 2006, the latest update data confirm the growing inequality in motion freedom. “This apparent improvement obscures the growing divide between the citizens of rich countries in the North and the citizens of low-income countries in the South in the movement and consequently access to opportunities,” the report says.
Those in charge of the rankings say the situation has been exacerbated by restrictions imposed by an epidemic that has created the biggest rift in the global movement recorded by the index in its 16-year history. The most recent version, however, did not consider the temporary restrictions on combating Govt-19.
About a month ago, Antonio Guterres described the situation as “travel racism”. The UN Secretary-General noted the “injustice and immorality” of the international community in closing its borders to African countries. Attempts to control the Ómicron variant failed.
“Passports and visas are one of the biggest tools influencing social inequality globally because they determine the opportunities for global movement,” confirmed Henley & Partners’ co-founder and chairman of the code. Cited by CNN International. Christian H. Gailin also defends the importance of opening up mobility channels to recover from infection.
“The boundaries we are born into and the documents we are entitled to are not more arbitrary than the color of our skin. Wealthy nations should encourage positive immigration in an effort to help redistribute and balance human and material resources globally.
Top 10 places in the world’s strongest passports
1. Japan, Singapore (192 territories)
2. Germany, South Korea (190)
3. Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain (189)
4. Austria, Denmark, France, Netherlands, Sweden (188)
5. Ireland, Portugal (187)
6. Belgium, USA, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, UK (186)
7. Australia, Canada, Greece, Malta, Czech Republic (185)
8. Hungary, Poland (183)
9. Slovakia, Lithuania (182)
10. Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia (181)
Top 10 Weakest Passports in the World
104. North Korea (39)
105. Nepal and Palestine (37)
106. Somalia (34)
107. Yemen (33)
108. Pakistan (31)
109. Syria (29)
110. Iraq (28)
111. Afghanistan (26)
Photos: Getty Images
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