Travelling with a weak passport means dreaming with strings attached.
asserted
Travelling → travel → strings
We prepare for the worst-case scenarios, rehearse the best answers, and never fully allow ourselves to feel the excitement.
asserted
ourselves → prepare → excitement
The anxiety is palpable: will this country let me in?
asserted
country → let → me
But what do we do when the worst of the worst happens?
asserted
worst → do → worst
It did to Zara*, and she couldn’t do anything.
asserted
she → do → anything
She was born in Pakistan but has been living in Dubai with her husband for several years.
asserted
She → bear → years
The couple are UAE residents on paper and fit the profile of ‘legitimate’ tourists.
asserted
couple → fit → tourists
This year, they booked a seven-night trip to Georgia.
asserted
they → book → Georgia
All their documents were complete, the tickets were booked, and the hotel was reserved.
asserted
hotel → book → ?
For green passport holders, Georgia offers visa on arrival.
asserted
Georgia → offer → arrival
Zara and her husband decided to carry $1,000 in cash each.
asserted
Zara → decide → cash
They had heard stories of people deported from Georgia or refused entry over insufficient funds.
asserted
They → hear → funds
The couple did not want to take any chances.
asserted
couple → want → chances
At Tbilisi International Airport, they waited in a long immigration queue.
asserted
they → wait → queue
But as soon as their turn came, the couple was sent to another counter.
asserted
couple → come → counter
After more waiting, an official announced: “The State of Georgia has decided not to grant you entry.
asserted
State → announce → entry
You will be sent back on the next flight.
asserted
You → send → flight
No explanations given, no documents checked—only a rejection.
asserted
documents → give → explanations
They were subsequently taken to a small room with an uncanny resemblance to a detention area.
asserted
They → take → area
Zara and her husband’s passports were taken while they were told to wait for the next flight.
asserted
they → take → flight
Their mobile phones were confiscated, too.
asserted
phones → confiscate → ?
They were lucky to catch the next flight to Dubai within five hours.
asserted
They → catch → hours
At the Sharjah Airport’s arrivals section, the couple found out that what happened to them had become common over the past few years.
asserted
happened → find → years
According to authorities, about 10-12 people, particularly Pakistani and Indian passport holders, were sent back on every flight.
uncertain
people → accord → flight
The Pakistani passport remains among the lowest-ranked travel documents worldwide, ranked 95th on the World Passport Index.
asserted
passport → remain → Index
But to Zara, what happened felt random, unexplained, and honestly discriminatory.
asserted
happened → happen → Zara
I can relate to her story, having undergone part of the ordeal myself.
asserted
I → relate → ordeal
After landing at the Tbilisi airport, I was pulled aside at immigration, sent to a secondary counter, and told to wait.
asserted
I → pull → counter
The officer examined my Pakistani passport, made a phone call, and said nothing more.
asserted
officer → examine → nothing
I stood there for over an hour, helplessly watching other travellers pass through smoothly.
asserted
travellers → stand → hour
I had prepared every document needed, but none of it seemed to matter.
asserted
none → prepare → it
After what felt like an eternity, the officer stamped my passport and waved me through.
asserted
officer → feel → me
I felt relief, not triumph.
asserted
I → feel → relief
The only thing that set me and Zara apart was luck, which was on my side on that trip.
asserted
which → set → trip
The verdict delivered to Zara came without a reason, and that absence is the point.
asserted
absence → deliver → reason
Her documents were never checked.
asserted
documents → check → ?
Her passport was the only evidence anyone needed.
asserted
anyone → need → ?
This is the stark reality of global mobility injustice, a system in which movement is unequally distributed not by merit or preparation, but by geopolitical positioning.
asserted
movement → distribute → positioning
When mobility rights are consistently denied to specific groups based on nationality and origin, sovereignty becomes a cover for structural discrimination.
asserted
sovereignty → deny → discrimination
Zara prepared thoroughly.
asserted
Zara → prepare → ?
…and 10 more, not listed.
The Aporia
