# Is there any way an embassy can move a sanctuary seeker to its country? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 16, 2019, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-an-embassy-can-move-a-sanctuary-seeker-to-its-country/832636 "2019-04-16T17:56:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2019, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-an-embassy-can-move-a-sanctuary-seeker-to-its-country/832636/41 "2019-04-22T18:14:33Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > [Its been tried.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dikko_affair) See post 30. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2019, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-an-embassy-can-move-a-sanctuary-seeker-to-its-country/832636/42 "2019-04-22T18:15:33Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Indeed, but they need some air holes drilled in that plywood. :dubious: “Need.” That’s adorable. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2019, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-an-embassy-can-move-a-sanctuary-seeker-to-its-country/832636/43 "2019-04-22T18:35:22Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > You’re assuming they _want_ Julian in Ecuador … No. The OP specifically addresses that. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2019, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-an-embassy-can-move-a-sanctuary-seeker-to-its-country/832636/44 "2019-04-22T19:43:44Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > “Need.” That’s adorable. You’ve lost me there. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-an-embassy-can-move-a-sanctuary-seeker-to-its-country/832636/45 "2019-04-23T06:57:34Z")
> [@Wrenching\_Spanners](#): > > Also, paragraph 4 of the article: > So putting a fugitive into a diplomatic bag is out. Not really. There are rules stating what the “diplomatic bag” (which can as well be a crate) can contain, but there is no procedure allowing the host country to verify what there’s actually inside it. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-an-embassy-can-move-a-sanctuary-seeker-to-its-country/832636/46 "2019-04-23T15:41:32Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > You’ve lost me there. “Need” implies they want him to be able to breathe. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2019, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-an-embassy-can-move-a-sanctuary-seeker-to-its-country/832636/47 "2019-04-24T00:11:22Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > This again is a pervasive misperception. Diplomatic facilities are not in any way the territory of any other nation but the host nation. It is just that facilities are protected by law and treaty from entry, search, arrest, etc. I was going to respectfully debate this with you, but I needed to refresh my memory on the ‘legalese’. > [@](#): > > From **Article 22** of the afore-linked **Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961** > > 1.The premises of the mission shall be inviolable. The agents of the receiving State may not enter them, except with the consent of the head of the mission. > 2.The receiving State is under a special duty to take all appropriate steps to protect the premises of the mission against any intrusion or damage and to prevent any disturbance of the peace of the mission or impairment of its dignity. > 3.The premises of the mission, their furnishings and other property thereon and the means of transport of the mission shall be immune from search, requisition, attachment or execution. . . . and by letter of the law, I think you’re right–nothing creates an enclave. But that whole “invioalable” thing really does lend itself to a zealous Ambassador considering his embassy an extension of his/her home land. I see where this confusion comes from now. . . I wonder if the misperception was propagated by high-level Courts construing the wording of the treaty (SCOTUS, Crown Courts, etc.) Tripler Not that I’d want Assange in my country either. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2019, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-an-embassy-can-move-a-sanctuary-seeker-to-its-country/832636/48 "2019-04-24T00:44:19Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > . . . and by letter of the law, I think you’re right–nothing creates an enclave. But that whole “invioalable” thing really does lend itself to a zealous Ambassador considering his embassy an extension of his/her home land. I see where this confusion comes from now. . . I wonder if the misperception was propagated by high-level Courts construing the wording of the treaty (SCOTUS, Crown Courts, etc.) My bet would be that because people know that embassies cannot be searched, the public formed a mistaken belief, rather than sloppy wording by high level courts, which tend to be very precise in language. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2019, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-an-embassy-can-move-a-sanctuary-seeker-to-its-country/832636/49 "2019-04-24T03:57:27Z")
The whole “You’re now standing on 2,000 square feet of [insert national adjective here] territory” jive has popped up in a number of movies and TV shows over the years. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2019, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-an-embassy-can-move-a-sanctuary-seeker-to-its-country/832636/50 "2019-04-24T10:07:11Z")
A wonderful fictional treatment of this occurs in Frederick Forsyth’s _The Deceiver_. It essentially involves spies and diplomats changing disguises in order to fool the KGB. Perfectly plausible that something could have happened that way in real life, at least to the layman (Forsyth’s novels are always impeccably researched). ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2019, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-an-embassy-can-move-a-sanctuary-seeker-to-its-country/832636/51 "2019-04-24T16:55:52Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > And I suppose [revoking it and shooting him](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwC_IaY3BmY) is right out? Note that as consular officials/employees, neither Rudd nor any of his gang would have been able to claim diplomatic immunity, as their level of immunity only extended to activities in the course of their official consular duties. (That doesn’t mean they couldn’t \*\*try \*\*to claim it, hoping that a dumb cop wouldn’t know any better.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-an-embassy-can-move-a-sanctuary-seeker-to-its-country/832636.md?page=2)