HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF!
The Zambian government has cancelled or revoked the passports of six Zambians – Emmanuel Mwamba, Sishuwa Sishuwa, Benwell Mpundu, Emmanuel Jay Banda, Kaizer Zulu, and Lilian Mutambo – on national security grounds.
Governments can revoke travel documents if a person is suspected of terrorism, treason, or posing a direct threat to state safety and public interest
A passport can be cancelled if the holder has an active arrest warrant, is a fugitive, or faces court-ordered travel restrictions. Using false identity details, lying on an application form, or altering a passport makes the document invalid.
Authorities cancel documents that are reported lost, stolen, or belonging to a deceased person.
Certain legal frameworks permit cancellations for extreme unpaid debts, such as major tax evasion or delinquent child support obligations.
When a passport is cancelled, it loses validity. The document no longer works for border crossings, official identification, or legal transactions.
But national security security grounds can truthfully, justifiably, and legally be raised against these six citizens of the Republic of Zambia?
The authorities have not disclosed what those national security grounds are. Why? It’s probably because they don’t exist.
Does being an ardent critic of government qualify one to be classified as a national security risk or threat? Yes, some of these can be said to be a little prickle. But it’s not a national security threat.
This measure is excessive or extreme. It is really trying to kill a fly with a hammer. It is bound to have a chilling effect on the freedom of expression and speech.
When your government cancels your passport while you are in a foreign country, you lose your valid travel document instantly, leaving you stranded and legally vulnerable. Border control systems worldwide link to international databases. Your cancelled passport flags immediately, preventing you from boarding any commercial flight or crossing any international border. You can not leave your current location using that document, effectively trapping you in the foreign country. You lose your legal immigration status. Most foreign visas and residence permits legally tie to the specific passport used to acquire them. When your passport becomes void, your local visa or residency status usually becomes invalid, too. You may become an undocumented person overnight, exposing you to local immigration raids, detention, or formal deportation proceedings by host country authorities.
International law prohibits governments from rendering their own citizens legally stateless, meaning you remain a citizen.
If your home government cancels your passport after you flee persecution, you can seek legal protection and alternative travel documents from your host country or international organizations.
File an application for refugee status or asylum with the immigration authorities or the nearest refugee office in the country where you are currently located.
Avoid contact with home authorities. Do not contact the embassy or consulate of the country you fled, as doing so can put you in physical danger and may legally jeopardize your refugee claim.
Once your asylum or refugee status is officially recognized, you can apply for a Refugee Travel Document (often called a 1951 Convention Travel Document). This document replaces your national passport for international travel.
If you are legally residing in a host country but have not yet obtained full refugee status, you can request an alternative identity or travel document from local authorities.
We don’t seem to learn anything from history. These tired eyes have seen the evolution of many things. And, many things that are being presented as new or novel are things we have seen before. It doesn’t require much intelligence or effort to predict the outcome or ending of certain decisions and actions.
It’s very sad and painful to see mistakes of the past being repeated when we know very well the consequences and ending, but those who have the sway don’t want to listen.
Human societies repeatedly fall into the same historical traps because unchanging aspects of human nature—such as ambition, fear, and the desire for short-term gain—continually override the lessons of the past.
History repeats itself! Can we learn from our past historical mistakes and avoid this? Famous thinkers have long noted this tendency, most notably philosopher George Santayana, who wrote, “Those who can not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
New generations often fail to study or believe the experiences and hardships of their ancestors, treating current conditions as entirely unprecedented.
As humorist Mark Twain famously observed, history may not repeat the exact same events, but the underlying patterns often rhyme.
Fred M’membe