Editing Nansen passport (section)

==History==

The end of [[World War I]] saw [[Aftermath of World War I|significant turmoil]], leading to a refugee crisis. Numerous governments were toppled, and national borders were redrawn, often along generally ethnic lines. Civil war broke out in some countries. Many people left their homes because of war or persecution or fear thereof. The upheaval resulted in many people being without passports, or even nations to issue them, which prevented much international travel, often trapping refugees.

The precipitating event for the Nansen passport was the 1921 announcement by the new government of the [[Soviet Union]] revoking the citizenship of Russians living abroad, including some 800,000 refugees from the [[Russian Civil War]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150801081938/http://www.arkivverket.no/eng/Using-the-Archives/Online-Exhibitions/The-Nansen-Passport/Nansen-the-humanist Nansen the humanist]. Retrieved December 11, 2012</ref> The first Nansen passports were issued following an international agreement reached at the Intergovernmental Conference on Identity Certificates for Russian Refugees, convened by [[Fridtjof Nansen]] in Geneva from July 3, 1922, to July 5, 1922,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.refworld.org/docid/3dd8b4864.html|title=Refworld – Arrangement with respect to the issue of certificates of identity to Russian Refugees|publisher=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees|access-date=April 9, 2018}}</ref> in his role as High Commissioner for Refugees for the [[League of Nations]].<ref>{{Cite journal|year=2003|title=Documents from the League of Nations Archives|journal=Refugee Survey Quarterly|volume=22|issue=1|pages=71–73|doi=10.1093/rsq/22.1.71}}</ref> By 1942, they were honoured by governments in 52 countries.

In 1924, the Nansen arrangement was broadened to also include [[Armenians|Armenian]], and in 1928 to [[Assyrian people|Assyrian]], [[Bulgarian people|Bulgarian]], and Turkish refugees.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.refworld.org/pdfid/3dd8b5802.pdf|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.refworld.org/pdfid/3dd8b5802.pdf|archive-date=October 9, 2022|url-status=live|title=Arrangement of 12 May 1926 relating to the Issue of Identity Certificates to Russian and Armenian Refugees League of Nations, Treaty Series Vol. LXXXIX, No. 2004|website=refworld.org|access-date=April 9, 2018}}</ref> Approximately 450,000 Nansen passports were provided<ref>[http://snl.no/Nansen-pass Nansen-pass] [[Store Norske Leksikon]]. Retrieved December 11, 2012</ref> to stateless people and refugees who needed travel documents, but could not obtain one from a national authority.

Following Nansen's death in 1930, the passport was handled by the [[Nansen International Office for Refugees]] within the League of Nations. At that point the passport no longer included a reference to the 1922 conference, but were issued in the name of the League. The office was closed in 1938; passports were thereafter issued by a new agency, the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees under the Protection of the League of Nations in London.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uia.org/s/or/en/1100044612|title=Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees under the Protection of the League – Yearbook Profile – Union of International Associations|website=uia.org|access-date=April 9, 2018}}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150923194953/https://www.arkivverket.no/eng/Using-the-Archives/Online-Exhibitions/The-Nansen-Passport/The-Nansen-Office The Nansen Office] Arkivverket. Retrieved December 2, 2014</ref>