TOKYO: Three foreign-born residents of Japan, including one born in Pakistan, will file a lawsuit against the government next week over alleged racial profiling by police, a case that would be the first of its kind, their lawyers said on Wednesday.

The three men — including an African-American, and a Pacific Islander — have been repeatedly questioned by police because of their ethnicity or appearance, their lawyers said in a statement.

“It would be the first lawsuit over operation of racial profiling by police in questioning,” even though suits over police’s excessive questioning have taken place in the past, one of their lawyers, Moe Miyashita, said.

Despite rising immigration, foreign-born residents of Japan account for only 2.3pc of the country’s population.

The man born in Pakistan, who identifies himself only as Zain and is in his 20s, came to Japan at the age of eight and obtained Japanese citizenship with his family at the age of 13.

“In total, he has been questioned about 15 times by the police in Japan,” the lawyers said.

In April and September 2023, he was questioned by a police officer in front of his house, according to his lawyers. He told the officer that he was a Japanese citizen, but the officer was not convinced.

“The officer asked him to show his residence card and passport, and then searched his belongings,” the lawyers said in the statement.

The two other plaintiffs are Maurice, an African American in his 40s who lives with family members who are Japanese citizens, and a Pacific islander in his 50s who identifies himself as Matthew.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2024