Local Residents Ordered to Hand Over Passports to Hunan Police, Promise to Return Them 'When the Pandemic Is Over'

Police in the central Chinese province of Hunan have ordered local residents to hand over their passports to police, promising to return them “when the pandemic is over,” amid a massive surge in people looking for ways to leave China or obtain overseas immigration status.

A March 31 notice from the Baisha police department in the central province of Hunan posted to social media ordered employers to hand over the passports of all employees and family members to police, “to be returned after the pandemic.”

An officer who answered the phone at the Baisha police department confirmed the report, and said the measure is being rolled out nationwide.