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The world's rarest passport is issued by a landlocked nation

2024-02-03 09:50:58Lifestyle SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

The world's rarest passport is issued by a landlocked nation

The Sovereign Military Order of Malta also known as the Knights of Malta is not only a Catholic religious order with almost 1000 years of history. Nor is it just a multimillion-dollar humanitarian aid organization, with operations that include refugee camps and disaster relief programs in some 120 countries around the world.

It is also a sovereign nation, with United Nations observer status and its own constitution, but, unusually, without any land. It issues car plates with no road to drive them and its own stamps, currency and passports.

The Knights began as a chivalric order in Jerusalem around 1099 and were granted the Maltese archipelago in 1530 by the King of Spain. Napoleon Bonaparte forced the Knights out of Malta in the French invasion of 1798, and these days the Order is headquartered in Rome. Daniel de Petri Testaferrata, president of the Malta-based Order, tells CNN that only about 100 of the 13,500 knights, dames and chaplains now scattered around the globe live in the Maltese archipelago.

The first passports were issued by the Order of Malta in the 1300s when its diplomats traveled to other states with documents proving their role as ambassadors. After the Second World War, the use of the diplomatic passport took on characteristics of passports used in other countries. Today, there are only about 500 diplomatic passports in circulation making it the rarest passport in the world.

The Order's red passport (perhaps a sign of the blood of Christ) is reserved for members of the Sovereign Council and heads of diplomatic missions and their families. It is decorated with gold letters showing the name of the organization in French, "Ordre Souverain Militaire de Malte" and a coat of arms.

"The order gives passports to members of their government for the duration of their mandate," says de Petri Testaferrata. Grand Master passports are valid for the longest period as they are elected for 10 years, can serve two terms and must be retired by age 85. Other passports are valid for four years and are used only for diplomatic missions. Passports have 44 pages stamped with the Maltese cross without much other fuss, no images or quotes.

Eugenio Ajroldi di Robbiate, former communications director of the Order, says it can be funny to see the reaction of customs officers when they see the passport. According to De Petri Testaferrata, two-thirds of Schengen members recognize the diplomatic passport and the Order works closely with many countries without formal diplomatic relations such as France, the United Kingdom and the United States.

"We provide rapid medical and humanitarian supplies to victims of conflict or natural disasters. We run hospitals, ambulance corps, medical centers, homes for the elderly and disabled, soup kitchens and first aid stations, "explains de Petri Testaferrata.


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