Posted on 11/21/2007 5:37:57 PM PST by TigerLikesRooster
Japan detains 5 with new fingerprint entry checks
Wed Nov 21, 12:59 AM ET
Fingerprint checks on foreigners arriving in Japan matched five people to an immigration blacklist on the first day, the Justice Ministry said on Wednesday.
Biometric scanning of almost all foreigners entering Japan was introduced on Tuesday, sparking anger among long-term residents, businesspeople and human rights campaigners.
The five individuals' fingerprints came up on a list containing around 800,000 names including Interpol suspects and people deported from Japan in the past, the ministry said.
It refused to give any details of the five people or say which countries they came from.
One of the five is set to be deported and the others are still under investigation, a ministry official said.
The new procedure, which involves electronic scanning of both index fingers as well as taking a digital photo of the face, ran into minor problems due to computer glitches and people with dry fingertips.
Domestic media reported as an immigration official in Fukuoka, southern Japan, as saying it was hard to check some older people because their fingerprints have worn smooth.
The new checks had little effect on waiting times at Narita airport, the main international airport serving Tokyo, an immigration official said.
Introduced as an anti-terrorism measure, the system has been criticized for linking foreigners with crime. Opponents demonstrated outside the Justice Ministry on Tuesday.
"We will continue working to increase the understanding that scanning fingerprints is the most reliable method in current technology of checking the identity of individuals," a ministry official said.
More than 6.7 million foreign visitors entered Japan last year, while around 171,000 foreigners overstayed their visas, government statistics show.
(Reporting by Yoko Kubota Editing by Michael Watson)
Ping!
women and minorities hardest hit. bush’s fault. i’m sure these 5 guys are amish.
It is their country. I guess they can do what they want.
I have no problem following the law.
I guess libs, and crybabies, and North Korean agents, and Islamofascists, and overstaying Filipinas might have a problem with it.
Quite frankly, Japan does not need them, and many of us old timers in the foreign community in Japan don't want them here in the first place, either, as they spoil it for the rest of us legitimate types.
If only the USA could start filtering out the foreign undesirables upon US entry, and get rid of the millions of undesirables there already deeply ensconsed and going nowhere (if they can help it).
Bah, the Big Business/Open Borders Lobbies don't want no stinkin' borders anyhoo...
日本＊ピング＊ (kono risuto ni hairitai ka detai wo shirasete kudasai : let me know if you want on or off this list)
As a long-term resident of Japan I can say that I am absolutely delighted with the new system and only wish it was in place earlier.
Too many times the petty crooks that are caught and deported simply buy a new passport under a different name and come right back.
This will put a stop to that.
Good!!!
“It refused to give any details of the five people or say which
countries they came from. “
Sounds like Brian De Palma should have done his movie “Redacted”
on this situation.
With “Engrish” subtitles!
It certainly would do better business than his current “Redacted”!
It is only the trouble makers that are going to get pissed off about this.
Good.
Less of them here is very desirable for me--and almost every Japanese I talk to. There are very few bleeding heart Japanese when it comes the issue of how to handle <<不法滞在者>> a.k.a. illegal aliens or otherwise foriegners who are here only to cause trouble and not contribute something to Japan under it's laws.
This should clean up things a bit and make it easier for us legal residents.
OK, so does this mean that the Japanese then have a fingerprint file on every individual coming into the country or do they scan and dump if there’s no match?
 A man living in Japan takes part in a protest against fingerprinting foreigners entering Japan in front of Japan's Justice Ministry in Tokyo November 20, 2007. REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao
Ana Galvez, an Argentinean living in Japan, holds up a placard during a demonstration against fingerprinting foreigners entering Japan in front of Japan's Justice Ministry in Tokyo November 20, 2007. REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao |
I have been in Japan for 22 years .I have a permanent resident visa . They already have my photo and fingerprints for my alien registration card .Foreigners with permanent resident visas should be exempt ,no ?
22 years is a long time. Do you still have to file income in each country after so long.
Sounds good to me.
They dont look like particularly happy people with life in general, to begin with....
These look like Gaijin artistes. But you know where Japanese hippies and musicians go? Boston. It's full of long haired Japanese youth many with a few dyed hair locks. They can do their thing in America
Yes, we need that.
At the international airports, at the canuck and mexican borders, and with all the border patrol agents also.
snag em and bag em
I am a guest here in Japan, no matter how long it has been or will be.
Not forever.
I am an American first.
But I have to follow the program.
I never forget that.
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