2024-02-02T12:31:15+00:00
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/ An American media report revealed on Friday a “rare” passport belonging to a country that has no actual presence on the ground, but has moral status as an observer state in the United Nations. It also issues stamps and car license plates, although it does not have roads.
CNN says that “the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, known as the Knights of Malta, is not just a Catholic religious organization dating back nearly a thousand years, or just a humanitarian aid organization with a budget of millions of dollars, and its operations include refugee camps and relief programs in about 120 countries, but it is also a sovereign state.”
According to the American network, this organization is also a sovereign state, enjoys observer status in the United Nations, and has its own constitution, but it has no geographical area.
Yet this “state” issues license plates for cars, without having any roads to drive on, let alone having its own currency, stamps, and passports.
The organization was founded in Jerusalem around 1099, and its members were granted the Maltese Archipelago in 1530 by the King of Spain, before being forced out by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798.
These days the organization’s headquarters are located in the Italian capital, Rome.
“Only about 100 of the 13,500 knights, ladies and priests now scattered around the world live in the Maltese archipelago,” the organization’s president, Daniele Di Pietri Testaferrata, who is based in Malta, told CNN.
The first passports were issued by the Knights of Malta in the 14th century, when its diplomats traveled to other countries carrying documents proving their role as ambassadors.
After World War II, these documents acquired the characteristics of diplomatic passports used in other countries, and therefore there are only 500 of them in existence today, making it the rarest passport in the world.
The group’s dark red passport is reserved for members of the Sovereignty Council, heads of diplomatic missions and their families, and is emblazoned with a logo and gold letters stating the organisation’s name in French, “Ordre Souverain Militaire de Malte”.
According to the American news network, the passports of the top leaders are valid for the longest period, as they are elected for a period of 10 years, and can serve two terms, provided that they retire by the age of 85.
Other passports are valid for 4 years and are used only for diplomatic missions.
The passports contain 44 pages watermarked with the Maltese cross, with no other images or quotes.
“Passports are granted to members of the government for the duration of their term,” said De Pietri Testaferrata.
According to the head of the organization, two-thirds of the members of the Schengen Treaty countries recognize the diplomatic passport, noting that the “Knights of Malta” have good relations with many countries that do not have official diplomatic relations with it, such as France, the United Kingdom and the United States.
“We provide rapid medical and humanitarian supplies to victims of conflicts or natural disasters. We also run hospitals, ambulance teams, medical centers, homes for the elderly and disabled, charity food kitchens, and first aid centers,” he added.