China: Muslim-dominated Xinjiang residents told to surrender passport

China has ordered all residents in its Muslim-majority Xinjiang province to surrender their passports in a bid to “maintain social order” and prevent them from moving abroad, days after the Communist nation tightened rules to suppress religious freedom in the restive region.

The northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region has tightened passport regulations, requiring all residents to hand in their passports to local police for examination and management, state-run Global Times reported today.

All citizens in Aksu prefecture are required to hand their passports – private or official – to local police stations, the daily reported quoting an anonymous police officer.

“Anyone who needs the passport must apply to the police station,” the official said, adding that the new passport management policy is implemented throughout Xinjiang.

The Public Security Bureau in Shihezi city gave the same directive last month.