North Korean Passport Ranks Higher Than Lebanese Passport
Based on Henley & Partners' 2016 visa restriction index, the Lebanese passport came out as one of the least powerful passports. The study ranks nations based on the number of countries their citizens can travel to visa-free. Germany, Sweden and the United States of America came out in first, second and third place, respectively. Germany has the most powerful passport in the world since its citizens can travel to 176 countries without the need of a visa. Syria, Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan are at the very bottom of the Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index since each only have visa-free access to less than 30 countries. Peru was the highest individual mover, gaining 15 places. Ghana showed the most negative movement, losing four places in one year. The countries that rank the highest are shown in blue, while those at the bottom are shown in yellow:
Dr. Christian H. Kälin, Chairman of Henley & Partners, said:
"There is still a huge disparity in the levels of travel freedom between countries, despite the world becoming seemingly more mobile and interdependent. Generally, visa requirements are a reflection of a country's relationship with others , and take into account diplomatic relationships between countries, reciprocal visa arrangements, security risks, and the dangers of visa and immigration regulation violations"
Lebanon
As such, Lebanon shared the 96th position (out of the 104) with Ethiopia and South Sudan. North Korea shared the 94th spot with Djibouti. Only 11 countries did worse than us:
Nepal, Palestine and Sudan shared the 97th spot, Eritrea and Yemen at 98th, Libya (99th), Somalia (100th), Syria (101st), Pakistan (102nd), Iraq (103rd) and Afghanistan (104th).
I hope this is a humbling experience for us and a reminder why we need to vote in better representatives who can develop better diplomatic relations with other countries.
Full List
1 - Germany
2 - Sweden
3 - Denmark, Finland, Italy, Spain, United States
4 - Austria, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, United Kingdom
5 - Ireland, Japan, New Zealand
6 - Canada, Greece, Portugal, Switzerland
7 - Australia, South Korea
8 - Iceland
9 - Czech Republic
10 - Hungary, Malta
11 - Lithuania
12 - Latvia, Liechtenstein, Slovakia, Slovenia
13 - Estonia, Malaysia
14 - Poland
15 - Monaco
16 - Cyprus
17 - Chile
18 - Brazil
19 - Andorra, San Marino
20 - Argentina, Bulgaria
21 - Croatia, Romania
22 - Hong Kong