Thursday, March 04, 2004

Rat out a foreigner, or anyone, today

Since us foreigners are such a bad risk, according to Koizumi and the fascist right, they are employing the power of the internet to flush out the bad seed. The Japan Bureau of Immigration has set up a new web site where you or anyone can rat out any foreigner, or I suppose non-foreigner, that you like.

The site deputizes the nation, so that anyone with internet access can turn in a visa violator at will. You can find the Japan Times article about ithere. The problem is that those deputized may not know what a violation is, since there is nothing explaining what a violator may look like. In fact the whole ploy is racist in conception and employment. If a person "looks Japanese" they are much less likely to be reported, guilty or otherwise, than someone who looks like me.

Amnesty International has come out against it. You can find an article about that here, in the Japan Times. The group says the Immigration Bureau is "encouraging reports without any concrete proof."

You can have a look at the sitehere. It is rather complicated if you ask me. To find out where to add details about the violator, you have to select the kind of information you will be giving on them. You'd have to be pretty computer savvy to understand that. If you can't read the Japanese, here is a translation of the reasons that you have turned in someone. These are translations by Debito Arudo, whose link you will find in the link bar to your right.

Preset reasons for reporting a foreigner are:
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1) "I can't let violators get away with it" (ihansha ga yurusenai)
2) Neighborhood disturbances (kinjo meiwaku)
3) Repugnance and anxiety (ken'o fuan)
4) "I am an interested party" (rigai kankei)
5) Police haven't dealt with it (keisatsu futaiou)
6) I have suffered damages (higai o uketa)
7) "Sympathy or compassion" (doujou)
8) I can't let the employer or business get away with it.
(koyou nushi (kigyou) ga yurusenai)
9) I can't let a job broker get away with it.
(buro-ka- ga yurusenai)
10) I was fired because of a violator.
(ihansha no tame ni kaikou sareta)
11) I was not able to get employment because of a violator.
(ihansha no tame ni kyuushoku sarenakatta)
12) Something else (sono ta)
13) Unclear (fumei)
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