Regarding the Nov. 21 article "Foreign arrivals get biometric scan": I became a permanent resident of Japan in 2003 after going through so many administrative headaches and being fingerprinted and photographed quite a few times (the process took nearly 20 years!) We foreigners all know how protectionist this country has always been, but this biometric scan implementation is a joke.
The article says even permanent-resident status people need to give their "biometric data"? What's the use then of becoming a "permanent resident" in this country? Immigration authorities already have all of our data! Why do we have to put up with this useless and, let me emphasize, cynical brushing aside of human rights and civil rights in the name of "counterterrorism"?
Look at the United States, the only other country in the world where biometric data is taken from foreigners entering the country. It proved to be unrelated to catching "terrorist suspects." So why does this country always adopt all the wrong ideas of the U.S., especially when it comes to "homeland security"?
We will fight this measure until it is abolished. The first person to be ousted from the government should be the justice minister, especially after making that well-covered, stupid comment that "a friend of a friend of mine is part of al-Qaida."
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