Rejecting “Misfits:” Canada and the Nansen Passport

• Published in: International Migration Review
• Main Author: Kaprielian-Churchill, Isabel
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publications 1994
• Subjects: Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous); Demography; Canada; Fridtjof; Fridtjof Nansen
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/019791839402800203; http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/019791839402800203

After 1918, millions of refugees from the former Russian and Ottoman Empires found themselves without citizenship. To facilitate refugee travel and work, Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, League of Nations HCR, established an international identity certificate, generally known as the “Nansen passport” This document identified the refugee but did not give him the same rights as a legal passport, most notably, the right of return. After the war, racism in Canada's immigration program and a concern for potential public charges affected the way in which Canada dealt with the Nansen passport, her participation at international conferences dealing with refugees, and the entry of refugees qua refugees. These developments occurred at a time when Canada was trying to establish an international presence and a measure of independence from Britain.