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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nThe Nansen passport was the first known travel\ndocument made for stateless people. Since its creation in 1922, it has been\nfoundational in the advancement of refugee law. My interest in this topic stems\nfrom my work as an International Studies major, where refugee policy is one of\nthe most pressing issues of our time. This question is deeply tied into ideas\nof belonging and agency, two themes that have been at the heart of this year\u2019s Humanities\nCenter Altman program on migrations<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The case of Russian refugees during the 1920s\nstands as a catalyst to the Nansen passport, for it witnessed a perfect storm of\npeople fleeing the Revolution and the ongoing Russian Civil War during a period\nwhere Europe was still recovering from the Great War and laws for the stateless\nwere nonexistent. Looking at the Soviet relationship with passports and\nmobility highlights the importance of refugee mobility and identity as dictated\nby national governments and how the Nansen passport became vital in\ntransforming refugee law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Nansen passport first appeared under the\njurisdiction of the League of Nations in an effort to provide legal protections\nto refugees fleeing Russia. These passports would serve as legal identification\ndocuments in their place of residence and allow for mobility outside of the\ncountry. This was an important concept for designers of the passport, as\nfreedom of movement was seen as a fundamental human right but because most\npeople did not live where transnational refugee laws existed or have access to\ndocuments, refugees were either stuck in their initial country of refuge or\ndeported to the country they fled. Without identifying documents, these\nrefugees had trouble finding stable work within their host country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many member states in the League of Nations\nsaw the refugee problem as temporary so most were unwilling to provide\nfinancial support for the adoption of a refugee program. In response, the\nLeague appointed Fridtjof Nansen to the position of High Commissioner for\nRefugees that looked to tackle migratory issues caused by a major famine that\nwas also plaguing Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nansen was a bit of a celebrity both in his\nhome country of Norway and internationally, having gained fame for his\nexploration of the North Pole and Greenland as well as his groundbreaking work\nin both zoology and oceanography. Politically, he was a major advocate of\nNorway’s independence from Sweden and later received the Nobel Peace Prize for\nhis humanitarian work with the League of Nations. Nansen received it for his\nwork with the Russian famine, but as more and more emigres lost citizenship\nunder new Soviet laws, his humanitarian efforts were forced in a new direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Denationalization was a major issue in the\nwake of the formal creation of the Soviet Union in December 1922, as the new\ncountry began revoking citizenship from emigres who had already left. Before\nthis move, citizens were considered stateless de jure, but the decree stripped\nthe former citizens of all protections and for some made them enemies of the\nstate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mass population displacement really had no\nprecedent in Russia\u2019s history and only became a salient issue around 1915. The\ntsarist regime was unable to stop its foes in the Great War from invading the\nedges of the empire, thus pushing people out of their homes. Nor did the empire\nreally have the capacity to address fully the issues faced by refugees as it\nwas still struggling to fight a total war, the proximate cause of the February\n1917 revolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Soviet Russian decree revoking citizenship\nincluded persons living abroad for over 5 years, those who left after 1917\nwithout state permission, and those who voluntarily served in anti-Soviet\nforces or participated in counter-revolutionary activities (which was fairly\nsubjective in the eyes of the courts). Other Soviet republics subsequently\nenacted similar decrees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This 1921 decree became the catalyst for\naction for both the Soviet government and those working on the Nansen passport.\nThis decree set into motion processes of denaturalization for those currently\nliving abroad. The decree was not necessarily looking to cut ties from all of\nthese emigres–the state actually sent ambassadors to certain countries to\nprovide a way for emigres to file for Soviet citizenship–but with the\nestablishment of the 1924 Soviet constitution, mass denaturalization was more\nheavily enforced by requiring emigres to physically return to receive\ncitizenship. For most political refugees this simply wasn\u2019t an option because\nit would likely lead to their imprisonment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Peace treaties signed between the USSR and its\nindependent newly-independent neighboring states such as Estonia, Latvia, and\nLithuania also forced many emigres into statelessness. They created a timed\ndeadline for gaining citizenship abroad, which meant that Russian emigres living\nin these lands were forced to obtain citizenship in their place of temporary\nresidence or return and risk imprisonment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These peace treaties served a dual purpose for\nthe Soviet government because they helped to stop possible\ncounterrevolutionaries from entering the country while also helping the new\ncountry gain recognition as a state within the international community.\nCountries facing an influx of Russian refugees were more than willing to set up\nagreements with the Soviet Union in hopes of relieving the burden of extra\npeople following the First World War. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Before these treaties, international law\nrecognized these emigres as Russian foreigners under diplomatic protection by\nthe provisional Russian government rather than stateless people. After the\nrecognition of refugee agreements with the Soviet Union, these Russian emigres\nno longer had protection and became stateless people forced to choose a home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alexander Zhirkevich, a Russian writer and military lawyer said the following about this shift in citizenship policy: <\/p>\n\n\n\n “Before, it was so easy to get out of Russia: I took a foreign passport, collected the necessary amount, dressed more or less decently, and at least [got] to America. And now it’s not the same: to get out of Soviet Russia means to perform a feat, to be sure of the existence of miracles in the world.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zhirkevich was never a holder of the Nansen passport, but his experiences moving in and around the Russian soviet gave him first-hand knowledge of what it meant to be in constant precarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the new legal roadblocks, through the\nHigh Commission on Refugees the League of Nations worked to repatriate\nthousands of Russians living in Germany, Hungary, and Constantinople who wished\nto return home voluntarily. Even for those wanting Soviet Russian citizenship,\nthe process was selective. Most members of the Soviet government were\ncompletely fine with former writers and activists staying abroad, mostly due to\na fear of these former citizens returning and engaging in counterrevolutionary\nactivity. Host countries to these emigres feared the diplomatic repercussions\nof providing aid to people labeled as potential rebels. In his autobiography,\nIgor Stravinksy –a holder of the Nansen Passport– said that \u201ceverywhere\nRussians were, one and all, regarded as undesirable, and innumerable\ndifficulties were made whenever they wished to travel from one country to\nanother.\u201d Stravinsky\u2019s words perfectly capture the precariousness of what it\nmeant to be a refugee at this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here is where the Nansen passport became vital\nin creating international refugee law. The 1921 conference between a handful of\nLeague members created a system in which refugees could obtain legal\ndocumentation and with it, a sense of agency by allowing them to seek permanent\nresidence and full-time jobs. While the passport didn\u2019t solve all the problems\nfaced by stateless people it did provide a semi-effective organizational body\nthat communicated transnationally. States were able to opt into the program and\nfunds from passport fees were redistributed among refugee camps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The passport proved durable in the short term: By 1942, it was used in 52 states and had been issued to almost half-a-million stateless people. At the individual level, the passport helped to cement a future for those searching for a safe place to call home. It allowed people such as Marc Chagall, Vladimir Nabokov, and Stravinsky to continue to create their art and share it with the world. The Nansen passport provided a beacon of hope for those who were previously invisible under international law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Freedom of choice in a moment of precarity is the legacy of the Nansen passport, along with a model that would be utilized under the United Nations for migration relief such as in Hungary in the 1950s. Even more, the passport influenced the development of the modern passport, establishing the need for travel documents as a matter of personal legal agency. While the plight of Soviet emigres brought to light the issues of immigration law, the effects of the Nansen passport continues to be felt today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jessica Baloun is a senior majoring in History and International Studies with a minor in Russian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n ~~~<\/p>\n\n\n\n References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Otto Hieronymi,\n\u201cThe Nansen Passport: A Tool of Freedom of Movement and of Protection,\u201d Refugee Survey Quarterly <\/em>22, no.1\n(2003): 36-47.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Peter Gatrell,\n\u201cWar, Refugeedom, Revolution,\u201d Cahiers du\nMonde russe<\/em> 58, no. 1\/2 (1917): 123-146.<\/p>\n\n\n\n George Ginsberg,\n\u201cThe Soviet Union and the Problem of Refugees and Displaced Persons 1917-\n1956,\u201d The American Journal of\nInternational Law<\/em> 51, no.2 (April 1957): 325-361.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stravinsky, Igor. An Autobiography. United\nStates: Library of Alexandria, 1958.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Natalya Zhirkevich-Podlesskikh, \u201cAt Ivan\nAivazovsky\u2019s,\u201d Galleria<\/em> 53, no.4\n(2016). https:\/\/www.tretyakovgallerymagazine.com\/articles\/4-2016-53\/ivan-aivazovsky<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Natalya Zhirkevich-Podlesskikh, \u201cBrief\nBiography Of A. V. Zhirkevich.\u201d https:\/\/nasledie-zhirkevich.ru\/biograficheskie-ocherki\/kratkaya-biografiya-a-v-zhirkevicha\/<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Jessica Baloun The Nansen passport was the first known travel document made for stateless people. Since its creation in 1922, it has been foundational in the advancement of refugee law. My interest in this topic stems from my work … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/havighurst\/files\/2021\/05\/250px-Zhirkiewicz1894.jpg\")
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