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Young women denied passports for fear of prostitution
By Xu Chi |
May 14, 2012, Monday
|
Online Edition
Online Edition
WOMEN aged 16 and 35 in three counties in Yunnan Province are not allowed to apply for passports as the government feared that they might work as prostitutes abroad, local media reported.
According to a report on a local news website Yunnan.cn, a 24-year-old woman in Menglian County complained that she was denied a passport for her planned trip to Thailand by the local exit-entry administration.
She said a passport official didn't even take a look at her application and told her directly that women under the age of 35 are not allowed to apply for passports.
"I love my country but I also love traveling. I consider it an ordinary citizen's right to apply for a passport but why I am denied this right?" the woman wrote on her Weibo microblog.
The Menglian County Exit-Entry Administration responded that its policy was made because too many women were found working in the sex trade once they leave the country.
Lancang and Ximeng counties also ban women between 16 and 35 from traveling overseas.
Yang Zhonghua, director of the Pu'er City Exit-Entry Administration in Menglian County, said that an investigation made in 2005 showed that many women in the three counties in Yunnan went to Southeast Asia to work as prostitutes.
Yang said Southeast Asian governments have repeatedly contacted their Chinese embassies about cases of prostitution involving Chinese women, which hurt China's reputation.
Some Chinese women are infected with HIV virus while abroad and brought AIDS to their hometowns, causing fears among villagers. The exodus of many young women also left many young males without wives.
But Yang explained that women who can have sufficient reasons to go abroad, such as visiting relatives or attending academic meetings or entering foreign colleges will be able to get the passport.
According to a report on a local news website Yunnan.cn, a 24-year-old woman in Menglian County complained that she was denied a passport for her planned trip to Thailand by the local exit-entry administration.
She said a passport official didn't even take a look at her application and told her directly that women under the age of 35 are not allowed to apply for passports.
"I love my country but I also love traveling. I consider it an ordinary citizen's right to apply for a passport but why I am denied this right?" the woman wrote on her Weibo microblog.
The Menglian County Exit-Entry Administration responded that its policy was made because too many women were found working in the sex trade once they leave the country.
Lancang and Ximeng counties also ban women between 16 and 35 from traveling overseas.
Yang Zhonghua, director of the Pu'er City Exit-Entry Administration in Menglian County, said that an investigation made in 2005 showed that many women in the three counties in Yunnan went to Southeast Asia to work as prostitutes.
Yang said Southeast Asian governments have repeatedly contacted their Chinese embassies about cases of prostitution involving Chinese women, which hurt China's reputation.
Some Chinese women are infected with HIV virus while abroad and brought AIDS to their hometowns, causing fears among villagers. The exodus of many young women also left many young males without wives.
But Yang explained that women who can have sufficient reasons to go abroad, such as visiting relatives or attending academic meetings or entering foreign colleges will be able to get the passport.
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