Foreign-born citizens in Japan file suit against police over racial profiling: ‘they think I’m a criminal’
- Three foreign-born residents filed a lawsuit against the national and local governments over alleged illegal questioning by police based on racial profiling
- The suit comes amid a renewed debate over what it means to be and look Japanese, after a Ukrainian-born, naturalised Japanese citizen was crowned Miss Japan
A group of Japanese citizens, including a man of Pakistani descent, launched a civil lawsuit against the country’s police on Monday, accusing the authorities of racial profiling and discrimination and demanding an end to the alleged practice.
One of the three plaintiffs, Syed Zain, a 26-year-old Japanese citizen of Pakistani descent, says he has been repeatedly stopped by police, including getting searched in front of his home. He has lived in Japan for two decades, attended Japanese schools and is fluent in the language, he said.
“They don’t recognise us as a Japanese,” he said of the police. “From the first moment, they think I’m a criminal.”
The three plaintiffs are demanding 3 million yen (US$20,000) each in punitive damages over “unconstitutional and illegal” treatment, plus 300,000 yen (US$2,000) per plaintiff in lawyer fees.
I feel like every time I finish work, I’m hiding in my house
“Racial profiling is nothing but discrimination on the basis of race, nationality and colour,” their claim alleges.