Residents ordered to turn in passports

All residents in China's restive region of Xinjiang must hand in their passports to local police stations for "examination and management", the Global Times newspaper said Thursday.

"Anyone who needs the passport must apply to the police station," an anonymous police officer in Aksu prefecture told the paper, adding that the policy had been implemented throughout Xinjiang.

Many members of the more than 10 million-strong Muslim Uighur minority in the region complain of discrimination -- including denials of passport applications -- as well as controls on their culture and religion.

The Global Times article followed numerous reports from cities across the region of tightened passport controls.

Photos of other notices posted on social media showed police stations in various counties and in the regional capital Urumqi requesting citizens hand in passports or stating that new documents would no longer be issued.

In June, local state-run media reported that the mostly Kazakh residents of a Xinjiang border district had to give police DNA samples, fingerprints, voiceprints and a "three-dimensional image" in order to apply for certain travel documents, including passports.