While both Pakistan and India have often declared each others diplomats personae non gratae (plural for persona non grata that literally means unwelcome or totally unacceptable personalities), whereby accusing them of undesirable activities like espionage, the world has also seen a sitting Queen, a few incumbent presidents, a former United Nations Secretary General, a few Nobel Laureates, American CIA officials, a Miss World contestant, top Hollywood actors, famous politicians and ambassadors getting proscribed and hence asked to leave a particular country, research reveals
A peek through the annals of history, and a tentative visit to the archives of numerous leading British, American, South American, Latin American and Chinese media houses shows that about 20 years ago a British Cavalry Officer James Hewitt was declared persona non grata at his former barracks after he had revealed that he had inappropriate relationship with Lady Diana, the Princess of Wales.
In 1942, Queen Victoria of Spain was asked to leave Italy on accusation that she had opposed Rome’s stance in World War II.
Once declared “persona non grata,” diplomats are usually recalled by their home nations.
On August 21, 2009 Slovakia had declared Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom persona non grata and he was not allowed to cross the border due to certain political reasons.
Kurt Waldheim, former Secretary-General of the United Nations and President of Austria and his wife were given persona non grata status in the US and other countries when he was accused of having known about Nazi war crimes and not having done anything about them.
On January 8, 2010 the Egyptian foreign ministry declared noted British politician George Galloway persona non grata after he had attempted to take 200 aid trucks into the Gaza Strip, along with international activists. He was subsequently deported from Egypt back to the UK.
On May 20, 2009, eminent American actor Alec Baldwin was declared persona non grata by the Philippine government after an appearance in an episode of the "Late Show with David Letterman," where he joked about availing a "Filipino or Russian mail-order bride."
In 1998, American actress Claire Danes was labelled as an unwanted person by the Philippine government, after she had commented that Manila was a "ghastly and weird city.”
On August 31, 2016, American presidential candidate Donald Trump was declared persona non grata by the Mexican legislative assembly for his stance on expanding the US-Mexico border.
However, this resolution was declared non-binding and thus does not prohibit Trump from entering the country of Mexico or Mexico City.
Earlier, on March 11, 2011, Donald Trump was declared "persona non grata" by Panama City, following an interview where Trump stated that the United States was "stupid" to "give away the Panama Canal for nothing.
In November 2015, a Chinese-Canadian Miss World contestant Anastasia Lin was declared persona non grata by China apparently because of her outspoken advocacy for human rights and religious freedom in the Communist nation.
Anastasia Lin was scheduled to represent Canada at Miss World 2015 pageant in China but was refused a visa by Chinese authorities. The news of her rejection from the pageant, and her subsequent attempt to enter China through Hong Kong had caused global media attention for several weeks.
On April 8, 2012, Israel had declared German poet Gunter Grass, recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature, persona non grata because of his poem "What must be said” which had warned that Israel threatened an "already fragile world peace.”
In April 1979, the Central Intelligence Agency's expert on Iran, George Cave, was declared persona non grata by the Iranian government.
As far as diplomats are concerned, they are protected from arrests, consequent court trials and prosecution etc under Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
On April 5, 2011, the Ecuador Ministry had declared US Ambassador Heather Hodges persona non grata after she did not provide sufficient answers about a leaked diplomatic cable related to Ecuador. In retaliation the US declared the Ecuadorean Ambassador Luis Gallegos persona non grata on April 7, 2011.
On July 7, 2014, the foreign ministry of Bahrain had demanded the immediate departure of Tom Malinowski, US Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labour. Malinowski was accused of holding certain meetings against diplomatic norms.
On May 14, 2013, Russia's Foreign Ministry had declared Ryan Fogle, the third secretary of the Political Department of the US Embassy in Moscow, persona non grata. He was caught allegedly trying to recruit a Russian special services staff member and accused of being a CIA agent.
On November 23, 2013, Egypt had declared the Turkish Ambassador Huseyin Avni Botsali persona non grata due to criticisms made by Turkish Prime Minister Recap Tayyip Erdogan on the overthrowing of the Morsi regime as Egyptian head of state.
On May 29, 2012, the French government had declared Syrian Ambassador Lamia Shakkour, and two other embassy officials, personae non gratae.
The Syrian ambassador to the Netherlands was also declared an unwanted person by the Dutch government.
On September 7, 2012, the Canadian government had declared all Iranian diplomats in Canada unacceptable personalities and Canadian embassy in Tehran also was closed resultantly.
On January 6, 2012, the United States notified the Venezuelan government of the declaration of a female Venezuelan diplomat Livia Noguera as an undesirable person.
On April 27, 2011, Malawi had declared British High Commissioner Fergus Cochrane-Dyet persona non grata a week after a leaked diplomatic cable had revealed that the envoy had criticized Malawi’s President.
On May 1, 2011, the Libyan ambassador to the United Kingdom, Omar Jelban, was given 24 hours to leave the country after Foreign Secretary William Hague said he was persona non grata. The expulsion was in response to attacks on British embassy premises in Tripoli following the death of Colonel Gaddafi's son in a NATO air strike.
On May 6, 2011, France had declared 14 former Libyan diplomats in Paris to be personae non gratae because of "conduct and activities that were not compatible with the UN resolutions.
On May 19, 2011, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Israel's military attaché to Moscow Col. Vadim Leiderman was declared persona non grata after being caught receiving secret information from a Russian citizen.
On November 3, 2009, the Prime Minister of Fiji had declared Australian and New Zealand diplomats to Fiji as unwelcome persons. In retaliation, the Australian and New Zealand governments had followed suit by expelling Fiji’s Foreign Service personnel.
Similarly, Kuwait had expelled Iranian diplomats in March 2011, the American Ambassador to the Soviet Union, George Kennan, was declared persona non grata in 1952 after making a statement which the Soviets believed linked them to Nazi Germany, the United States Ambassador to Cameroon had met a similar fate in 1976.
Venezuela had expelled Israeli diplomats in January 2009 and Israel had ordered Venezuelan diplomats to leave the country, President Evo Morales of Bolivia had declared a member of the US embassy (political division) persona non grata in March 2009, President of Moldova Vladimir Voronin declared Romanian Ambassador and a Councilor-Minister personae non gratae in April 2009, Moldova had expelled Romanian Ambassador, Russia had kicked out Finnish diplomat in 2009, Swedish ambassador to Chile was asked to leave, Israel had declared Austrian politician Jorg Haider persona non grata in 2000, President of Bolivia had declared US Ambassador an unacceptable personality in 2008 and then the late President of Venezuela Hugo Chavez had declared US Ambassador an unwelcome person in solidarity with Bolivia.