I’ve heard that occasionaly diplomats representing the UN are issued UN passports instead of travelling on their national passports. If one breaks the law travelling on a diplomatic passport, one is usually deported. In the case of the UN, however, where would one be deported to? The UN building in New York? Geneva? Or just driven to the closest border?
Rather eclectic question, I know, but maybe there’s an answer somewhere out there.
UnuMondo
Usually you’re not deported to any specific country. The host country’s government can declare you a persona non grata, i.e. a person whose presence is not appreciated in that country, and you get a request to leave the country before a certain deadline.
The diplomat could refuse doing so, but why should he? His presence in the country would be of no worth, and the UN is pretty careful about obeying international law, so they usually fulfil the request.
His presence is of no worth to the UN, but worth plenty to him, if he broke some major law/rule and his home country is mad at him and that’s why he doesn’t want to go back home.
My WAG about the OP: No one is actually a citizen of the UN. There’s probably a place inside the passport which lists the person’s citizenship, and that’s where he’d get deported to.
I think Scnhitte is right. Unless you’re being extradited you aren’t deprted TO a country, you’re deported FROM a country. You have to figure out who will take you in.
There have been a few notable instances of this – the most famous being the notorious “Ship of the Damned” in the early days of World War II where a group of refugees couldn’t find a single country who would admit them. Also, IIRC after the Shah of Iran came to the U.S. for cancer treatments, he wasn’t welcome to stay here and certainly wasn’t about to go back to Iran. I think he wound up dying in one of the Central American countries.
What about the guy who was living in the Paris airport for years? Supposedly he could not go anywhere and France did not want him. I think he didn’t have a valid passport or something like that. He might even be there now.
The story on the Paris airport guy was handled by Cecil in http://www.straightdope.com/columns/990820.html
I have heard a lot about these so-called UN passports, but I have yet to see one. Are you sure you’re not just confusing them with the black diplomatic US passports?
As a UN diplomat you will get an ID card stating your diplomatic imunity, but (AFAIK) it’s only valid with a (normal) passport.
Cecil on (US) passports:
How come some U.S. passports are different colors?
My father used to work for the FAO, so he was issued a light-blue UN passport. IIRC, it also had a hologram of the UN seal (this was at a time when holograms were not as common as today). Worked great for getting into places like South Africa, in the mid-eighties, where you don’t want that particular stamp to show up in your regular passport.