Story highlights
NSA whistleblower could try Ecuador, but Iceland and North Korea also beckon
For some reason, Spanish colonial architecture features heavily in places of refuge
As a last resort, somewhere deep -- very deep -- in the U.S. could do
Fleeing U.S. law enforcement and stuck in a Moscow airport, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden seems stuck about where to go from here.
CNN Travel advises which countries should be on his list …
1. Iceland
Iceland makes for an excellent fugitive destination, particularly for someone with a wintry name such as Snowden. It professes a love for Internet freedoms and once checkmated extradition efforts by offering citizenship to tax-evading U.S. chessman Bobby Fischer.
For Snowden it might feel chilly after Hawaii, Hong Kong and midsummer Moscow, but he could easily warm up with a dip in the geothermal waters of the Blue Lagoon in Grindavik.
Why stay: Ash-spewing volcanoes could help to shroud actual whereabouts.
Why leave: New laws to aid whistleblowers aren’t yet in place. Also, they eat puffins.
2. Ecuador
It’s a two-way deal: exiles get a subtropical shelter while Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa gets to burnish anti-American credentials and gain a distraction from his clampdowns on press freedom.
Why stay: Plenty of Inca ruins and colonial Spanish buildings to admire.
Why leave: Ecuador still has an extradition deal with the United States.
Opinion: Why Ecuador might shelter Snowden
3. The UK
It might be heavily in diplomatic hock to Washington, but the UK remains a popular place of refuge – particularly among Russian exiles drawn by its liberal outlook, robust legal system and miserable weather.
Despite security cameras on every corner, plenty of people have managed to lose themselves in London. And if all else fails, it has an Ecuadorian embassy, although since Julian Assange has already snagged the spare room, you’ll be on the sofa.
Why stay: Strong tradition of political radicalism
Why leave: Did we mention the awful weather?
4. The Philippines
The Filipino police have a strong track record of helping foreign agents hunt down their quarry, but with more than 7,000 islands to choose from, it could take them some time.
Why stay: Boracay’s beaches, Banaue’s scenic rice terraces and – as it happens – more colonial Spanish architecture!
Why go: Corruption. Even if you’re not on the lam, you’ll still be bilked for backhanders.
5. Spain
Southern Spain’s enduring popularity among expat UK villains has earned its coastline the unfortunate soubriquet of “Costa del Crime.” A spate of arrests has tarnished its appeal, though.
Why stay: The sunshine, the paella, the sangria.
Why leave: British pubs selling greasy breakfasts to greasier Brits. Abject lack of Spanish colonial architecture.
6. France
The French have a rep for being rude to foreigners – unless they’re fleeing justice. The country has ignored extradition deals in the past, refusing to give up U.S.-wanted hijackers in the 1960s and ’70s. If you’ve done something political – or you’re Roman Polanski – you’re probably safe.
Why stay: France has it all: culture, countryside and cheese.
Why leave: France also has the French.
7. Cuba
Embargoes didn’t stop Jay-Z from heading to Havana, but you probably won’t have to worry about facing the other kind of rap as Cuba lacks an extradition treaty with the U.S.
Why stay: Salsa, cigars and those great old cars held together with washing machine spares.
Why go: Worrying proximity to Guantanamo.
Cuba isn’t always fun for skyjackers
8. North Korea
Clearly this would be madness. But at least in North Korea fugitives are almost guaranteed to be beyond the reach of international justice.
U.S. soldier Charles Jenkins demonstrated this principle between 1965 and 2004 after deserting to the north during the Korean War, and living – albeit rather wretchedly – to tell the tale.
Why stay: Don’t stay.
Why leave: It won’t be your emails that are monitored, just your every waking thought.
9. Transit
Snowden appears to have spent several days air-side at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport, a location that Kremlin authorities insist doesn’t fall within Russian borders.
Perhaps he could stay there, following the footsteps of Iranian exile Mehran Karimi Nasseri, whose eight years stranded at Charles de Gaulle Airport inspired the movie “The Terminal.”
Why stay: Limitless supplies of Dan Brown books and giant Toblerones.
Why go: Audacious flight from justice could be rendered into another lame Tom Hanks comedy.
10. United States
Why not hide in plain sight? It’s a big, frequently beautiful country and there are parts of the country where people don’t even know who their president is, let alone who’s on his most wanted list.
Why stay: Land of the free.
Why go: Pressure to have plastic surgery. Even if you’re not changing your identity.
Editor’s note: Barry Neild may not be a diplomatic expert but he has a long history of jetsetting from one sunny place of refuge to another.
