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2007-10-26 04:00:47
By Isabel ReynoldsFri Oct 26, 1:04 AM ET
Japan is to fingerprint and photograph foreigners entering the country from
next month in an anti-terrorism policy that is stirring anger among foreign
residents and human rights activists.
Anyone considered to be a terrorist -- or refusing to cooperate -- will be
denied entry and deported.
"This will greatly contribute to preventing international terrorist activities
on our soil," Immigration Bureau official Naoto Nikai said in a briefing on the
system, which starts on November 20.
The checks are similar to the "U.S. Visit" system introduced in the United
States after the attacks on September 11, 2001.
But Japan, unlike the United States, will require resident foreigners as well
as visitors to be fingerprinted and photographed every time they re-enter the
country.
"It certainly doesn't make people who've been here for 30 or 40 years feel like
they're even human beings basically," said businessman Terrie Lloyd, who has
dual Australian and New Zealand citizenship and has been based in Japan for 24
years.
"There has not been a single incident of foreign terrorism in Japan, and there
have been plenty of Japanese terrorists," he said.
There are more than two million foreigners registered as resident in Japan, of
whom 40 percent are classed as permanent residents.
CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS
The pictures and fingerprints obtained by immigration officials will be made
available to police and may be shared with foreign immigration authorities and
governments.
Diplomats and children under 16 are excluded from the new requirement, as are
"special" permanent residents of Korean and Chinese origin, many of whom are
descended from those brought to Japan as forced labor before and during World
War Two.
Local government fingerprinting of foreign residents when issuing registration
cards, long a source of friction, was abolished in 2000.
Amnesty International is calling for the immigration plan to be abandoned.
"Making only foreigners provide this data is discriminatory," said Sonoko
Kawakami of Amnesty's Japan office. "They are saying 'terrorist equals
foreigner'. It's an exclusionary policy that could encourage xenophobia."
The new system is being introduced as Japan campaigns to attract more tourists.
More than 6.7 million foreign visitors came to Japan in 2006, government
statistics show. Immigration officials say they are unsure how long tourists
can expect to wait in line for the checks to be made.
Britain is set to require non-European foreign nationals to register biometric
details when applying for visas from next year.