Fri, May 07, 2004 - Page 5 News List

Japan Web site irks illegal aliens

SAYONARA Shoddy statistics along with unbalanced news reporting have led to a climate of scapegoating in which visa overstayers are increasingly seen as dangerous

AP , TOKYO

"We are not criminals, we are not losers," Ismail said. "We are working all day but there is no peace for us."

Wariness of outsiders has a long history in Japan. The country emerged from 200 years of self-imposed isolation only in the mid-19th century. Since then, generations of Japanese schoolchildren were taught to think of themselves as a "single-race nation," though the phrase is politically incorrect today.

Sakanaka said his agency is merely doing its duty. But the outcry over the online tip-off system forced authorities to add a disclaimer acknowledging most foreigners are "law-abiding."

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