- विज्ञापन -
Beijing: The Chinese government has been increasingly enforcing arbitrary limitations on individuals’ internationally recognized right to leave the country. A report from Human Rights Watch (HRW) indicates that authorities require individuals from regions deemed high-risk for online fraud or “illegal” emigration to submit additional documentation and obtain approval from various government offices when applying for passports. Many applicants face passport denials if they do not fulfill these stringent requirements. In areas predominantly inhabited by Tibetans and Uyghurs, obtaining a passport has long been prohibited.
“While many citizens in China can travel internationally, the right to leave the country seems to be increasingly restricted for more groups across the nation,” stated Maya Wang, Associate China Director at Human Rights Watch. She noted that the government is extending existing travel limitations on Tibetans and Uyghurs to a broader range of people under the pretext of anti-crime initiatives.
The HRW report pointed out that in late 2002, the Ministry of Public Security’s Entry and Exit Administration introduced a new “on-demand” system to streamline passport applications, which has been implemented in most areas of China. However, regions like Xinjiang, Tibet, and the 13 Tibetan or Hui autonomous prefectures in Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan, and Yunnan provinces were excluded from this expedited process. Applicants from these areas are required to provide significantly more extensive documentation and often experience long wait times, sometimes taking years for their applications to be processed or facing arbitrary rejections.
The report also noted that in 2016, authorities in Xinjiang confiscated all previously issued passports. HRW argues that Chinese laws allowing the government to impose broad restrictions on citizens’ freedom to leave the country based on vague national security claims are inconsistent with international principles.
“The increasing limitations on obtaining passports have heightened concerns that Xi Jinping’s administration is reverting to practices from a time when few people could travel abroad,” Wang explained. She urged that “Chinese authorities should eliminate these arbitrary and discriminatory measures to ensure equal rights for everyone to leave the country,” as quoted by HRW.
