Commentary
A recent report by Safeguard Defenders revealed the changing, and rapidly expanding use of exit bans by the Chinese regime, targeting ethnic minorities, human rights defenders, businesspeople, and foreign citizens.
The use of exit bans is more complex than a news headline can capture. There are, of course, good reasons for using exit bans, for example, to ensure that those facing criminal proceedings, or out on bail pending judicial procedures, do not escape. However, in China, exit bans mostly serve a very different purpose. In fact, different types of exit bans seemingly serve several other purposes.
Ethnic minorities, particularly Uyghurs, are blocked from leaving unless explicitly given permission; the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is likely afraid of the damage that the growing Uyghurs diaspora abroad can, and already is, causing to China and, in particular, its attempted soft power push. In fact, a 2019 document outlined that merely applying for a passport was a valid reason to place a Uyghur into the “labor camps” that now fill the Xinjiang region….