DNA samples required for travel papers as border area in China’s Xinjiang tightens immigration procedures for Ramadan
Region has been hit by series of attacks blamed on Islamist separatist militants
People living in a border prefecture in Xinjiang must now give DNA samples when applying for travel documents.
The regulations were put in force before the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which started on Monday and was marked by the government’s customary ban on fasting by civil servants, students and children.
Residents in the Yili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture who wanted to apply for any type of immigration documents had to go to the police station nearest their registered homes to have their DNA samples, fingerprints, voiceprints and a three-dimensional image collected, the prefectural Communist Party committee newspaper Yili Daily said.
The new policy applies to applications for passports, two-way permits to Hong Kong and Macau, entry permits to Taiwan, and renewals of these permits. Applicants who failed to provide all the biological identification information would have their applications refused, the report said.