JAPAN: As Crime Rises, Asian Immigrants Feel the Heat

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Jul 1 1996 (IPS) - Except for the activites of its notorious ‘yakuza’ mafia, the crime rate in Japan is dramatically lower than in most other countries. But the crime rate is rising, and a new government report says most of it is the work of illegal foreigners, mostly Iranians.

Japanese media are fond of blaming the country’s large population of Iranian and other Asian immigrants for the rise in crime, saying they are the backbone of a growing narcotics trade.

This week, two Sri Lankan immigrants were arrested for receiving marijuana. The accused said they did not know the senders of the package and maintain they are innocent victims.

“The case is just one of the new aspects of the increasing crime involving foreigners in Japan. It indicates the international nature of crime in Japan,” says criminologist Hisaki Iwai.

Crime analysts point out that with the surge of immigrants in the past few decades, most of them seeking a slice of their host country’s huge economic sucess, Japan is becoming steadily embroiled in a wave of international crime that the country cannot cope with.

There are about 200,000 foriegners suspected of overstaying their visas in Japan. Almost all of them are from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iran, the Philippines and China.

A new report submitted by the National Police Agency at the beginning of this year, acknowledges the widening problem. “The infiltration of illegal workers into the fabric of Japanese society poses a serious problem for Japan’s security,” points out the report.

It goes on to cite that foriegners now constitute 0.9 percent of Japan’s population but are responsible for 2.3 percent of the crimes. While overstaying visas are at the top of the crime list, police figures indicate that there is an increase in serious charges such as robbery, murder and more recently drug peddaling.

Iranian nationals top of the list of drug charges. The Japanese press reports regularly that groups of Iranians have organised a vast narcotics trade in Japan.

Even street crimes indicate an influx of international crime organisations. Japanese police have to deal with vicious Chinese and Korean gangs that have infiltrated into the Japanese crime scene.

The police report says gangs have been expanding their operations in Japan and are smuggling guns, drugs and people. The activities of these gangs and other international criminal syndicates has pushed the foreigner’s share of most serious offences to 4.2 percent, points out the report.

“More foriegners are struggling to make ends meet and are there are a few despearte people out there who are easily tempted to make extra money by getting involved in activities such as drug smuggling,” said Katsuo.

He added that illegal foriegn men especially from countries such as Bangaladesh, India and Iran, face the most discrimination.

“It is difficult for these people to find decent jobs and they are the first to be kicked out by their employers,” he explained. Iranian men, who meet in large conspicuous gatherings in city parks, have become a conveinent scapegoat for all crime.

A Japanese school boy arrested for buying stimulant drugs said he bought one gram of cocaine from and Iranian for 300 dollars. That may be true, but coverage of such crime spreads the stereotype of the immigrant Asian criminal.

In a recent special report, shown by NHK, Japan’s national television, Asian men who are interviewed admitted they dealt with illegal drugs such as marijuana and cocaine.

They said their clients are mostly school children or youth. The Iranian men carried cellular phones on which they took down orders. They passed out the drug in small packets standing at street corners or parks.

The system seemed totally under their control. But an Iranian arrested recently said his boss was a Japanese. Crime experts say the drug market has long been controlled by the Japanese mafia and the police find it diffcult to crack down on the crime.

Desperate to bring the problem under control, the police are tightening up checks on Asian men.

Support groups say it is now common among for the police to check any dark-skinned Asian man who is seen walking alone in the night or riding his bicycle.

The rise in the checks have resulted in a massive crackdown on the illegal workers. Police now even prosecute the men overstaying their visas which means they are subjected to imprisonment unlike a few years back when the norm was to only deport them.

There are currently over 300 foriegn detainees out of which 60 are Iranians.

“The situation is getting very hot. Foreign criminals are being unfair to the majority of decent illegal workers who come to Japan to work hard and save money,” explained Yoshinari.

The lucrative market however has lured many foriegners seeking easy money. Many of the arrested carriers are now Asian, African or from Latin America.