Marcus and his story! The world, borders, countries, and passports!!!

 The superhuman power made the universe and world and humans made boundaries and borders. These borders are places where invariably there are some disputes about. This is seen worldwide and politicians have used these disputes to grab and remain in power. But does these fights help the citizens of either country in any way? Then the answer is a big NO! It only leads to bloodshed and many young lives are lost in the form of soldiers from both nations! Besides, there occurs the issue of illegal immigration. The world has been unable to manage these issues effectively to date! 

History of passports

There is some mention of paperwork similar to passports as early as 450 BC. But these were not a universal thing at that time. Only some people had it and it was not mandatory to hold it. Those who traveled to another place or kingdom preferred to get them from their king to ensure a safe passage. In Medieval Europe, such documents were given to people of another area and not to their own citizens. They contained details of where the person can travel-the list of names of towns and cities that the person is allowed to visit. 

The passports of today were started by King Henry V of England. But at that time, he invented these documents for his citizens so that they could prove who they were on foreign land. It was in 1540 that the term passport came into existence. But as railways came in Europe and international travel increased, these passports lost their significance. 

Up to World War I, these passports remained in the background and were not asked for at any place or borders. It was during World War I that Europe made passports mandatory and the border crossing was not possible without them. It was said to be for security reasons and to control the emigration of people with useful skills. And after the war ended, these controls continued and in a more strict sense. But it remained a controversial document and British tourists considered it as an act of 'nasty dehumanization'. 

Various passports [Source: Wikipedia]

In 1920, the League of Nations held a conference and discussed how a passport should be designed and made. Soon, these gained an all-important position much to the dislike of the people who did not believe in international borders. The making of the passports improved and now there are machine-readable passports in the world. And now many countries also have biometric passports.

Countries and citizens 

There are increasing instances where a person might hold the passport of a country and yet not have characteristics of the citizens of that country. Humans by nature prefer to be amongst like-minded people. But they might not necessarily feel belonging to a country whose passport they hold. 

Thus, there are innumerable examples where people seek to be around and work with those who hold similar ideas and thinking like them. Many of these people make efforts and seek to work in those countries and places where their thinking matches. Some of them are fortunate enough to even acquire the passports of the country where they work and which they like. 

Former Yugoslavia [Source: Pinterest]

On the other hand, one will also find people who work in other countries for the money it gives them but wants to continue to hold the passports of the nations that they are born in. And there are also some who give up a passport and gain the passport of another country with a better lifestyle. But they continue to crib and rant about how good the first country was. But they also do not leave the country that they are now in and which they say they do not like. They remain in a state of limbo throughout their life! 

Thus you will find people with all types of thinking related to passports in the world. 

A touching story...to ponder on! 

At this particular moment, I cannot but remember the story that one Serbian worker told me about his migration during the Yugoslavia war times. From 1991 to 2001 there were various wars in Yugoslavia and these included wars for freedom, wars of insurgencies, and ethnic conflicts. In 1992, Yugoslavia broke up. Peace accords followed but there were heavy property and human damage in the region. The end result was split up of former Yugoslavia to form Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Macedonia, and Montenegro. War on a smaller scale continues. 

Marcus, the Serbian worker [Source: Gallery photos]

But this Serbian worker named Marcus is now residing in Belgrade and does painting, plumbing, bricklaying, and such works for a living. Talking about his migration from present-day Croatia to present-day Serbia, Marcus said that during those days of the war he was trying to make up his mind as to where he should go. Though his mother was from Croatia, he did not know where his father hailed from because he had never seen him. His mother had died and Marcus had no documents to prove the region that he belonged to. He was walking and he reached a point where a security person who was the immigration officer was posted. Not knowing what to do, Marcus went up to him. The immigration officer asked him for his documents to check. Marcus replied that he possesses no legal documents of any sort and does not know where he belongs to. The reply of the immigration officer is touching. Thankfully, the officer had yet not lost his sense of compassion and sensitivity. The immigration officer told Marcus: 

"It is okay if you have no documents. Go where your HEART tells you to go."

Many a time, you are forced to reside in a country where you do not really belong to...your heart does not belong there. You yearn to be at the place that you like and feel belonged to....But all are not lucky enough to be able to do it like Marcus!!!