“Millions of residents in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region have been ordered to surrender their passports to local police, in a move rights groups say is an attack on personal freedom.
The order came from the Shihezi Public Security Bureau Immigration Office in Xinjiang on October 19, which said that passports would be held by police after an ‘annual check.'”
Source: Chinese authorities order residents of restive Xinjiang region to turn in passports – CNN.com