Wide Angle

When this line appeared on the screen at the end of a movie I was watching, I had to sit bolt upright.

It made me think of all the migration laws being debated in parliaments today and the anti-immigration protests taking place in different parts of the world.

Are passports, visas, and strict border controls, so recent?

Apparently, that is the truth.

For centuries, people crossed borders freely to live, work and trade. Neither Megasthenes nor Xuanzang, neither Marco Polo nor Ibn Battuta, neither Columbus nor Vasco da Gama needed permission to enter new lands. 

Rulers generally welcomed travellers, recognising the value they brought through knowledge, culture and, above all, commerce. The problems that sometimes accompanied such exchanges are another story for another day.

The passport and visa systems we know today are largely products of the post-First World War world. Following the 'Treaty of Versailles' and the creation of the 'League of Nations', governments sought greater control over the movement of people.

A landmark ruling came in October 1920, when the League of Nations convened the Paris Conference on Passports, Customs Formalities and Through Tickets. It introduced much-needed standardisation. Passports became uniform booklets with prescribed dimensions, and further refinements to visa regulations followed at a subsequent conference in 1926.

The reasons were understandable. Countries emerging from a devastating war were concerned about national security, espionage, economic protection, employment and the management of refugees. 

Empires were collapsing, nationalism was rising, new nations were emerging, and advances in technology had made warfare more destructive than ever before. Governments wanted to know who was entering their borders and why.

That is why, although the idea of a travel permit is ancient, the modern, standardised visa is a surprisingly recent invention.

The Bible records that around 450 BCE, the Persian King Artaxerxes I gave his Jewish cupbearer, Nehemiah, letters of safe passage as he travelled from present-day Iran to Jerusalem. 

Some historians credit King Henry V of England in the fifteenth century with introducing what resembles the first English passport. The oldest surviving passport is believed to be a handwritten document signed by King Charles I in 1641, granting safe passage to an English nobleman travelling overseas.

Interestingly, it was on this very day, 8 July 1796, that the U.S. Department of State issued its first passport to the American diplomat David Humphreys.

While these may be good historical examples, it was only in the twentieth century that passports and visas truly became standard requirements for international travel.

History reminds us that immigration laws have never stood still. They have continually evolved in response to political realities, economic pressures and security concerns. That process continues today. 

In the 2023 Bollywood movie, Dunki – that I had been watching - the character Hardy (played by Shah Rukh Khan) argues that borders are designed only for the poor, highlighting the unfairness of immigration laws. He says that while the wealthy can easily buy their way into a country, it is really the poor working-class migrants who are treated as criminals for seeking a better life.

Every government has a legitimate duty to protect its borders, safeguard national security and ensure opportunities for its own citizens.  But, at the same time, nations cannot afford to become so inward-looking that they exclude the very people whose knowledge, skills and enterprise can strengthen their economies and enrich their societies.

That is the enduring challenge. Immigration is not simply about deciding who may enter a country.

It is about striking the right balance between protection and openness. Judging by history, that has never been an easy task—and it probably never will be.