Internal passport
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An internal passport is an identity document used in some countries to control the internal movement and residence of its people. Countries that currently have internal passports include Russia, Ukraine, China and North Korea. In Uzbekistan, even though citizens issued just one passport, severe restrictions on movement with the country applied, particularly in the capital city – Tashkent. In the past, internal passports were used by Imperial Russia, France, the Confederate States of America, the Soviet Union, the Ottoman Empire, South Africa during Apartheid and other countries.
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[edit] Soviet Union
Internal passports were used in the Soviet Union for identification of persons for various purposes. In particular, passports were used to control and monitor the place of residence by means of propiska, a regulation designed to control the population's internal movement by binding a person to his or her permanent place of residence. For example, a valid propiska was necessary to receive higher education or medical treatment, though these services were not limited to the location registered. Besides marriage to a resident of another area, university education was the most popular way of circumventing one's propiska and residing elsewhere. Also, since only a minority of dwellings were privately owned, having a propiska at a certain address meant that one had the right to live there.
All residents were required by law to record their address on the document and to report any relevant changes to a local office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. For example, a citizen needed to submit photographs of themselves for their passport, taken when they were issued it at age 16, and again at age 25 and 45.
In Ukraine, these laws were repealed by its Constitutional Court in 2001 on the grounds of unconstitutionality.
In Russia, similar cases have so far failed, and the system remains in place, although in a reduced form. The system of internal passport registration and control remains extremely strict in Moscow in order to reduce illegal immigration and to prevent terrorist attacks. No government permission for a residence address change is required except to settle in state-owned dwellings. De facto, citizens have no hindrance to reside elsewhere than registered; however, many inhabitants of rented dwellings refuse official registration at new addresses because of landlords' tax evasion, which also allows for cheaper rents.
In November 2010, the Federal Migration Service announced the possible cancellation of internal passports, which would be replaced by plastic ID cards or drivers licenses.[1]
[edit] People's Republic of China
The People's Republic of China (PRC) maintains a system of residency registration in mainland China known as hukou, by which government permission is needed to formally change one's place of residence. This system effectively controlled internal migration before the 1980s, but subsequent market reforms caused it to collapse as a means of migration control. An estimated 150 to 200 million people are part of the "blind flow" and have unofficially migrated, generally from poor, rural areas to wealthy, urban ones. However, unofficial residents are often denied official services such as education and medical care and are sometimes subject to both social and political discrimination. A similar system of household registration is maintained in the Republic of China (Taiwan), but it does not restrict travel as in mainland China.
Hong Kong and Macau residents need Home Return Permits, issued by the PRC government through the Guangdong Public Security Bureau, to enter mainland China. The system was put in place when Hong Kong and Macau were under British and Portuguese rule. It was retained after their sovereignty was transferred to the PRC in 1997 and 1999, respectively, under the One country, two systems policy. The PRC government denies permit applications from people viewed as a threat to national security. Residents of mainland China wishing to visit Hong Kong or Macau require a Two-way Permit, issued by local Public Security Bureaus in the mainland. The requirement for applying for a travel permit has recently been relaxed under the Individual Visit Scheme for residents of Guangdong province, all the province-level municipalities and a number of other major cities.
[edit] Uzbekistan
In Uzbekistan , even though citizens are issued just one passport, severe restrictions on movement within the country applied, particularly in the capital city of Tashkent. After the explosions in 1999 all restrictions of the Soviet era were imposed, making it virtually impossible to legally acquire propiska in Tashkent.
[edit] Other
In South Africa, the pass laws (notably the Pass Laws Act 1952, which applied until 1986) were a component of the apartheid system. The laws regulated where, when and for how long a person could remain outside their homeland. They also made it compulsory for all black South Africans over the age of 15 to carry a pass book at all times.
Civil liberties campaigners in western democracies have likened some planned counter-terrorism measures as akin to the introduction of an internal passport. Tim Lott, writing in London's Evening Standard in December 2002, said that the proposed British identity card was a possible precursor to an internal passport.
Ardent privacy advocates in the United States, such as Bill Scannell of dontspyon.us, called the CAPPS II plan to color-code air passengers by their potential terrorist status a prelude to an internal passport. However, the phrase is not commonly used to describe these measures.
Internal passports were also used in the Confederate States of America.[2]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Россия упрощает регистрацию и хочет отменить паспорта BBC Russian, 18 ноября 2010
- ^ Neely (1993) pp. 11, 16.
- Report on Ukraine's Constitutional Court striking down internal passport laws from Ukrainian Weekly
- Tim Lott writing on British "internal passports"
- dontspyon.us on CAPPS II
