List of people who took refuge in a diplomatic mission


Because diplomatic missions, such as embassies and consulates, may not be entered by the host country without permission, persons have from time to time taken refuge from a host-country's national authorities inside the embassy of another country.
NameNotabilityReason for seeking refugeCountryCityMission's countryStart dateEnd dateDurationResolution
John William, Baron RipperdaDismissed Prime Minister of SpainSought for fraud, embezzlementMadrid407 daysArrested by the Spanish from inside of Ambassador's official residence
José Manuel BalmacedaPresident of ChileDefeated in the Chilean Civil WarSantiago20 daysCommitted suicide
Khalid bin BargashSultan of ZanzibarDefeated in the Anglo-Zanzibar War ZanzibarZanzibar Town36 daysNegotiated exile in German East Africa
Augusto Roa BastosParaguayan novelist, story-writer and journalistPolitical persecution after criticising the military regimeAsunción40 daysNegotiated exile in Argentina
Leonardo Argüello BarretoPresident of NicaraguaOusted by Anastasio Somoza GarcíaManagua7 monthsNegotiated exile in Mexico
Víctor Raúl Haya de la TorrePeruvian political theorist and politician; founder of APRAAPRA was outlawed by the Peruvian military-led dictatorshipLima5 years, 3 months, 3 daysAfter heavy international pressure, was finally allowed to leave the country
Jacobo Arbenz GuzmánPresident of GuatemalaOusted by Carlos Castillo ArmasGuatemala City1 dayNegotiated exile in Mexico
Imre NagyDeposed Prime Minister of HungarySoviet interventionBudapest18 daysReceived a written guarantee of safe passage, but was nonetheless arrested upon leaving by the new, pro-Soviet government; later executed.
József MindszentyHungarian Roman Catholic Church cardinalSoviet InterventionBudapest15 yearsNegotiated exile in Austria
Reino HäyhänenSoviet Lieutenant ColoneldefectionParis6 monthsMoved to the United States
Sharif Ali bin al-HusseinIraqi princecoup led by Abd al-Karim QasimBaghdad2 monthsLeft to exile in Egypt, later to Lebanon and Britain
Narciso Campos PontigoMember of the Cuban militaryJailed after the Cuban revolutionHavanaSet free by personal order of Raúl Castro; got asylum in the Brazilian embassy, then fled to the United States
Humberto DelgadoGeneral of the Portuguese Air Force and opponent of the Salazar regimeRan for President, lost to the official candidate in disputed results and was expelled from the militaryLisbon98 daysWent into exile in Brazil
Olga María Rodríguez Farinas and her two daughtersCuban revolutionary who, along with her U.S.-born husband, fought in the Cuban Revolution that deposed Fulgencio Batista and led to Fidel Castro's rise to powerescaping persecution from Fidel Castro, who Olga's husband was accused of conspiring againstHavana3 monthsLeft the Embassy in order to try to set her husband free; her husband was executed, and she was arrested and imprisoned for 12 years.
José SerraBrazilian politician; at the time, militant against the Brazilian military dictatorship escaping persecution from the Brazilian military governmentBrasília8 monthsWas granted safe conduct to leave into exile
Kong LeRoyal Lao Army Major-Generalescaped an unsuccessful Coup d'étatVientiane1 dayLeft into exile to Indonesia
Leon VeillardCaptain in the Haitian Army and one of the leaders of the Tonton Macoute militiaLabeled as a traitor by dictator Papa Doc, who feared he was plotting to overthrow his government and sentenced him and others to die.Port-au-Prince18 colleagues of Veillard were executed, but he received asylum in the Brazilian Embassy and fled to Florida
José SerraBrazilian politician; at the time, militant against the Brazilian military dictatorship escaping persecution from the Brazilian military governmentSantiago197319738 monthsWas granted safe conduct to leave into exile
Cuban diplomats and civiliansEscaped gunfire at the Cuban EmbassyPersecution after the Chilean military coupSantiago de Chile1978Safely brought out of Chile. Cuban embassy under Swedish protecting power for 18 years. Ambassador Harald Edelstam later declared persona non grata.
The Siberian SevenSiberian Pentecostalsprevented from emigratingMoscow5 years Allowed to emigrate to Israel and later the U.S.
Ange PatasseCentral African opposition leaderopposing Andre Kolingba governmentBangui4 daysNegotiated exile to Togo
Francisco René Bobadilla PalomoMinister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food under President Fernando Romeo Lucas Garcíadeposed by a military junta headed by Efraín Ríos MonttGuatemala CityGoverning junta granted all asylum-seekers safe passage to leave the country
Fang Lizhi and his wifedissident in Tiananmen Square protests of 1989forced end of Tiananmen Square protests of 1989Beijing385 daysNegotiated flight to the United States
Olivia ForsythSouth African apartheid era ex- spy agentdefection to ANCLuanda198 daysNegotiated flight to the United Kingdom
Hou Dejiandissident in Tiananmen Square protests of 1989forced end of Tiananmen Square protests of 1989Beijing72 daysNegotiated exit and deported back to native Taiwan
Manuel NoriegaMilitary dictator of PanamaUnited States invasion of PanamaCiudad de Panama10 daysNegotiated arrest by United States forces
Michel AounLebanese Army commanderdefeated in Lebanese Civil WarBeirut10 monthsLeft to exile in France
Hailu Yimenu,
Tesfaye Gebre Kidan,
Berhanu Bayeh,
and Addis Tedla		Ethiopian Derg-era senior officials; Kidan was the acting President until May 1991Fall of the Derg-regime of Mengistu Haile MariamAddis AbabaMay 1991
Yimenu committed suicide on June 2, 1991, shortly after taking refuge in the embassy.
Kidan died in 2004.
Bayeh and Tedla remain in the embassy.
Erich HoneckerGeneral Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of GermanyIndicted in Germany for the deaths of 192 East Germans who tried to leave the GDR in violation of anti-Republikflucht laws.Moscow68 daysExtradited by the Yeltsin administration back to Germany
Mohammad NajibullahPresident of AfghanistanAfghan Civil WarKabul4 years, 5 months, 11 daysTortured and killed by the Taliban
Sylvestre NtibantunganyaPresident of Burundimilitary coup d'étatBujumbura11 monthsNegotiated exit
Abdullah Öcalanfounding member of the Kurdistan Workers' PartyTurkish manhuntNairobi1 monthArrested on the way to the airport and tried and imprisoned in Turkey.
João Bernardo VieiraPresident of Guinea-BissauGuinea-Bissau Civil WarBissau1 monthNegotiated exile in Portugal
Alassane OuattaraPresidential candidate in Côte d'IvoireFirst Ivorian Civil WarAbidjan2 monthsNegotiated exile in Gabon and France
Lucio GutiérrezDeposed President of EcuadorTried to interfere in the country's Supreme Court amid a growing political crisis and protests; was declared impeached by Congress and replaced by the Vice-PresidentQuito9 daysNegotiated exile in Brazil, then went to Peru, then to the United States; returned to Ecuador and disputed the Ecuadorian general election, 2009
Morgan TsvangiraiCandidate for President of Zimbabweviolence during Zimbabwean presidential election, 2008Harare3 daysAfter negotiations with opponent Robert Mugabe, accepted joining a coalition government and was sworn-in as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe
Anwar IbrahimDe facto Leader of the Opposition MalaysiaDeath threats and alleged sodomy chargeKuala Lumpur1 dayLeft after assurance of his safety by Malaysian police. Was arrested on 16 July, and released without charges on 17 July. Won the August elections and returned to Parliament as formal leader of the Malaysian opposition
Andry RajoelinaDeposed mayor of Antananarivo, unilaterally self-proclaimed as president of the Republic of Madagascar on January 31, 2009.Arrest warrantAntananarivo10 daysAndry Rajoelina appointed as president of the caretaker government by Hippolyte Rarison Ramaroson as Marc Ravalomanana resigns and flees the country
Alberto PizangoPeruvian indigenous leaderCommanded protests against the Peruvian government by indigenous Amazonians who seized control of a natural gas field and a petroleum pipelineLima9 daysGranted asylum and flown to Nicaragua
Manuel ZelayaOusted President of Honduraswanted by authorities for putative crimes against the National ConstitutionTegucigalpa129 daysNegotiated exile in Dominican Republic
Shahram AmiriIranian nuclear scientistdisappeared from IranWashington D.C.1 dayreturned to Iran
Wang LijunFormer police chief of ChongqingConflict with Bo Xilai Chengdu1 day"Left of his own volition" and taken by central government authorities
Amadou Toumani TouréMalian deposed presidentmilitary coup d'étatBamako4 monthsfled to Senegal
Chen Guangchengblind civil rights activistescape from house arrestBeijing
6 daysLeft to go to hospital under unclear circumstances. Was later able to go to the U.S with his family.
Roger PintoBolivian Senator; leader of the oppositionPolitical persecution by Government of President Evo MoralesLa Paz455 daysLeft the Embassy in a diplomatic car accompanied by the Brazilian Chargé d'affaires; they drove for 22 hours until arriving in Brazil
Julian AssangeAustralian political activist, editor-in-chief of WikiLeaksTo avoid extradition for questioning about alleged rape and sexual abuse in Sweden and to the United States on a now unsealed Grand Jury indictmentLondon6 years, 9 months, 23 daysAsylum revoked by Ecuador, arrested by Metropolitan Police
Mohamed NasheedFormer President of the Maldives, who resigned in 2012 claiming to have suffered a coup d'etatFearing for his life at the hands of the police after ex-Human Rights Minister and a Brigadier General revealed information about assassination plot after Court order issued for police to arrest himMalé10 daysLeft the Embassy after deal brokered by India
Bosco NtagandaFormer commander in the March 23 MovementInfighting within the March 23 Movement and possibly vulnerable to Rwandan governmentKigali4 daysTurned over to the International Criminal Court
100 BurundiansStudentsAggression from the Government of BurundiBujumburaLeft peacefully at request, relocated to a center run by a religious entity
Ri Ji-u,
Kim Uk-il, and
Hyon Kwang-song		Suspects in assassination of Kim Jong-namInvestigation into the assassination of Kim Jong-namKuala LumpurFebruary 201745 daysCleared of wrongdoing by Malaysian police and allowed to return to North Korea
Freddy GuevaraVice-president of the National Assembly of Venezuela and National Coordinator of Popular Will partyPolitical persecution by the Government of Venezuela for leading protests against the regimeCaracas
Leopoldo LópezOpposition leader, founder of Popular Will and Sakharov Prize recipientFreed from house arrest during the 2019 Venezuelan uprisingCaracas
Deputy of the National Assembly of VenezuelaPolitical persecution by the Venezuelan government after the 2019 Venezuelan uprisingCaracas6 months, 3 weeks and 1 dayFled to Italy
Deputy of the National Assembly of VenezuelaPolitical persecution by the Venezuelan government after the 2019 Venezuelan uprisingCaracas6 months, 3 weeks and 1 dayFled to Italy
Deputy of the National Assembly of VenezuelaPolitical persecution by the Venezuelan government after the 2019 Venezuelan uprisingCaracas1 month, 1 week and 3 daysFled to Cúcuta, Colombia
Franco CasellaDeputy of the National Assembly of VenezuelaPolitical persecution by the Venezuelan government after the 2019 Venezuelan uprisingCaracas4 months, 6 daysFled to Spain