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.
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 labor 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.
The three men filed the lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court demanding that the national, Tokyo Metropolitan and Aichi Prefecture 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.
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