China 'bans' Tibetans and other
religious minorities from having passports
ALEXANDRA
SIMS 13 July 2015 THE
INDEPENDENT
In 2012 only two passports were issued in Tibet’s Chengdu
prefecture despite having a population of 650,000 people
The report, from Human
Rights Watch,
accuses Chinese
authorities
of using a discriminatory double-tiered passport system meaning
that residents of areas populated by religious minorities, such as
the country’s Tibetan and Muslim minorities, must provide far more
extensive documentation than other citizens.China has effectively banned Tibetans and other religious
minority groups from having passports, according to a
newreport
.
Additional
restrictions have been implemented in the Tibetan Autonomous Region
and led to a near-total ban on any travel for these residents
unless they are on official business.
Passport
restrictions in the TAR have been fiercely controlled since 2012
when almost all passports held by residents were confiscated after
the Chinese
government announced a shift to a new
“ePassport” system.
Almost no
replacement passports have been issued, however. In 2012 only two
passports were issued in Tibet’s Chengdu prefecture despite having
a population of 650,000 people.
“Getting a
passport is harder for a Tibetan than getting into heaven,” said
one anonymous Tibetan blogger in the report, “This is one of those
‘preferential policies’ given to us Tibetans by [China's
] central government.”
The report
suggests that the slow-track system was put in place specifically
to prevent religiously or politically motivated activities that
Chinese authorities view as rebellious, such as attending speeches
by Buddhist spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, or independent
pilgrimages to Mecca.
In
Xinjiang, a region home to 10 million Uighurs Muslims, officials
use an archaic method of passport application which requires more
documents and sometimes political vetting, according to the
report.
Hundreds of
Uighurs were also detained last year for illegally entering
Thailand, fleeing what human rights groups have claimed is
religious persecution in China. The Uighurs claim to be Turkish
citizens and while 181 have been allowed to go to Turkey over 100
have been sent back to China.
In the
majority of China, a passport must be issued within 15 days and
authorities must notify the applicant if there is a
delay.
Unlike
religious minorities, Chinese travellers took more than 100 million
“outbound” trips last year, according to government figures,
although most of these trips were to Hong King, Macau and
Taiwan.
”If you are
a religious minority who lives in a part of the country where most
people are minorities, it's virtually impossible to get a
passport,“ Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights
Watch.
”Chinese
authorities seem to believe that systematically denying Tibetans'
rights to travel brings greater stability to the Tibet Autonomous
Region. But it's respect for human rights – including equal access
to passports – that might begin to reduce Tibetans' distrust of the
government.“