Nepal’s passport ranks 7th weakest in world

Kathmandu, July 22: Once again, Nepal’s passport has been ranked among the weakest in the world.

In an indication of the declining strength of the nation’s official travel document, the Henley Passport Index, in its latest report released this week, ranked Nepal’s passport 106th out of a total of 112 positions. A decade ago, in 2012, Nepal’s position was 98 and five years ago, in 2017, it was 97.

Furthermore, Nepal’s current rank is the same as the Palestinian Territory, a state that is not a full member of the United Nations, and one rank below North Korea, a country against which the United Nations Security Council has passed nearly a dozen resolutions of sanctions since 2006.

As per the Index, which is a ranking of the world’s passports based on the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa, Nepali passport only provides visa-free or visa-on-arrival travel to 38 countries, well below the global average of 107 and less than all of its SAARC peers except Pakistan and Afghanistan.

This lack of strength may stem from a number of factors including income, conflict, organised crime and political stability, according to Henley and Partners, that global citizenship and residence advisory headquartered in the UK that released the Henley Passport Index. 

Specifically in the case of Nepal though, foreign affairs expert and former minister Bhekh Bahadur Thapa believed that the passport’s poor standing could be linked to its use, or rather misuse, during the conflict period. Thapa, who is a former Minister for Foreign Affairs, felt that the way Nepal’s passport was used to enter foreign countries during the Maoist insurgency could have been reflected in its present standing, or lack thereof.

Similarly, another reason often given for the lack of trust in Nepal’s laissez-passer is the citizens’ propensity to overstay their visas or live illegally in the nations they travel to. 

However, Dr. Nishchal Nath Pandey, director of the Centre for South Asian Studies, did not think that was the sole cause because other labour-exporting countries with citizens allegedly doing the same thing have stronger passports than ours.

Multiple attempts were made to contact officials of the Department of Passports on their official phone numbers for their comments but none were available to answer the call.

Whatever the reason though, the Government of Nepal must immediately form a task force to resolve the issue of the weak passport, stressed Pandey. This, along with the European Union’s present ban on Nepali airlines flying its skies, has become very critical problem in our foreign policy domain, he said.

It is worth remembering that Nepalis once received visa-on-arrival at several European countries. Today, no country in Europe extends that facility.

Meanwhile, Japan’s is the strongest passport in the world as it enables its holders to travel to 193 countries without a prior visa, the Index reveals. At number 2 is Singapore whose passport gets to travel to 192 countries. Afghanistan’s is the weakest passport in the world.