Three Foreign-born Residents File Suit in Japan Over Alleged Racial Profiling
Three foreign-born residents of Japan filed a lawsuit on Monday against the national and local governments over alleged illegal questioning by police based on racial profiling.
It is the first such lawsuit in Japan, according to the plaintiffs’ lawyers, and comes amid a sharp rise in the number of foreign workers coming to the country to help stem labour shortages as its population ages and declines.
It also comes amid a renewed debate over what it means to be and look Japanese, after a Ukrainian-born, naturalized Japanese citizen was crowned Miss Japan last week.
Syed Zain took Japanese citizenship after migrating from Pakistan as a child.
“In four years, I was stopped by the police more than 10 times. So, when things happen that much, you start to realize, am I wrong? Am I doing something wrong, that’s why they’re stopping me?”
He and two other men filed the lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court demanding governments recognize that it is illegal for police officers to stop and question people solely on the basis of their race, nationality or ethnicity.
The plaintiffs say they have suffered distress from repeated police questioning based on their appearance and ethnicity, which they say is a violation of the constitution.
Maurice has lived in Japan for 10 years and has a permanent residency visa.
“A lot of apathy here has allowed people like me to be abused and mistreated. So even if we lose, which I highly doubt, I think that if we can shine a light on some of the things that most people just do, they say, ‘Oh, it’s a foreigner thing, or it’s just people that are just being troublemakers, they’re just making noise.’ I want them to understand that this is an everyday occurrence, it’s an everyday thing, and that we have to do something to prevent that for future generations.”
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Aichi Prefectural Government and National Police Agency all declined to comment, while representatives of the Ministry of Justice could not be reached.
The lawsuit also seeks 3 million yen, or just over $20,000 in damages for each plaintiff.
