China denies passports to Muslim citizens

BEIJING (Web Desk) – Beijing bans Tibetans and Muslims from obtaining passports, Human Rights Watch said, amid a surge in Chinese tourists travelling abroad, Times of India reported.

Chinese authorities have created a two-tier system for areas populated by the country’s ethnic minorities, including Tibetan and Muslim minorities.

“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, said.

In most parts of China, a passport must be issued within 15 days, and if there is a delay the authorities must notify the applicant.

But in Tibet and Xinjiang, inhabited by 10 million Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority, officials use an older method for passport applications that requires more documents and sometimes political vetting, the report said.

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