Surge of terrorism affects Uyghurs obtaining passports

Photographer Kurbanjan spent three weeks on the road abroad filming a documentary, from dusty towns to isolated valleys. But the most difficult step was leaving China.

Kurbanjan is a Uyghur, China's far western ethnic minority. In recent years, the Uyghurs often face obstacles obtaining passports for security reasons according to an unwritten but widely enforced policy. Experts say this policy started because there had been cases of Uyghurs who traveled abroad and joined terrorist forces. The government designed the policy as a precautionary measure to keep terrorism out of the country and defend national security.

Terrorism attacks have been happening at an alarming rate in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The Xinjiang public security bureau released statistics that in 2012 alone, there were more than 190 terrorist attacks in the region, according to Oriental Outlook magazine.

Han Xiaorong, a history professor at the Lingnan University, wrote for the Singapore-based newspaper Lianhe Zaobao that the policy can achieve the desired effect of preventing danger.

However, while carrying out the precautionary measures, the arbitrary decisions also limited the ordinary people from going on trips and studying abroad.

Some also say the policy is improving and that nowadays, it's less trouble for Uyghurs to file passport applications than before.

Troublesome procedures

In order to apply for a passport, Kurbanjan's employing company issued official letters to the publicity department of the Xinjiang Communist Party Committee and the Hotan city police bureau so he can obtain an application form, he told the Phoenix Weekly.

After getting the form, he also collected signatures from three different departments.

An anonymous worker at the Exit-Entry Administration Department in Hami, Xinjiang, said that if Uyghurs have hukou (household registration) in Beijing, it would take only a week for them to get a passport, but in Xinjiang it would take about a month.

When asked why, she simply said, "Because this is Xinjiang."

In reality, many Uyghurs applying for passports go for more than a month or are denied a passport, even though the Passport Law says that all citizens should be able to obtain a passport within 15 days.

In 2012, Atikem Ruzi, a junior student at the Minzu University of China, reported that she was denied a passport.

Atikem said an official at the Beijing Exit-Entry Administration Department would not say why, beyond explaining that the "Xinjiang side" did not give their approval, according to an earlier Global Times report.

Atikem believes the reason her application was turned down dates back to two online posts she made during her summer vacation in 2011 that were critical of government policies.

Kurbanjan eventually got his passport, after much hassle. The same went for Alim (pseudonym), a Uyghur part-time musician who works in Beijing.

Alim said that he thinks the government officials are afraid of letting out people that might harm national security and he can understand that.

"If they let just one [terrorist] out of the country, that's their responsibility," Alim said.

But on the other hand, it's frustrating for people who have real business abroad, he said.

Alim applied for his passport in 2012.

"They keep telling you to prepare different files," he said. As a Uyghur, he needs to collect stamps from his neighborhood community and the local police station before he can submit the form back to the department in the city where his hukou is registered: Urumqi.

He had already failed an application in 2007, when he was invited to perform with his band in Taiwan.