Don't be an illegal immigrant in Japan.

[Zoetstofzoetje]

what was the name of this journalism film (remake from a UK series) where the ever-increasing privatisation of the army was explored?

[VetLegion]

Regarding the Canadian, some of the comments on the Economist site are suspicious of the veracity of his claims.

http://www.economist.com/comment/1218893#comment-1218893

Some commenters are surprised that Mr Johnson's account is being treated with suspicion. Some of the more paranoid ones suspect that such criticism is (according to one commenter entirely) orchestrated by Japanese official agencies. While no doubt some Japanese nationalists have been directed here, such general paranoia is not warranted.

Browse some of the internet fora of foreign-born anglophone Japan residents, and you'll see that there genuinely is suspicion about at least some of the details of Johnson's account on the part of a large number of participants. Why?

1. I suspect the first question those of us living here wanted to know was the state of his visa (ie - could this happen to us?). Johnson at first told people his visa status was none of anyone's business. He then claimed his lawyer told him not to talk about it. This, as you can understand, set massive alarm bells ringing. Is he just someone who tried to enter illegally and refused to get back on the plane? Is he someone who got the backs up of immigration officers who had discretion to give him the benefit of the doubt? What was "falsified"? What *actually* happened with immigration?

2. His account has elements that many living in Japan find too improbable, in particular the claim that he was threatened with a gun by private contractors (possession of a gun by such people working in such a place would catastrophically illegal). There are also inconsistencies about exactly what was taken from him and when. For a lot of people living in Japan, there are oddities about the account that make them cautious about believing all but the bare bones of it (that he was deported).

3. The account itself is clearly emotionally overwrought and contains wild speculation. For example, using the word "Gulag" is laughable, while at least in the original version, he appeared to suspect North Korean involvement. He makes emotive claims about the severity of the weather in Canada and his lack of clothing, even though he refers to having a winter coat, and Seoul being colder than his part of Canada right now. At times he claims fluent Japanese, at other times he appears ignorant of fairly intermediate level vocabulary. Some of the account, in its various versions, comes across like poorly researched/edited fiction.

4. His reaction to being challenged has also gotten people's backs up. He's compared being questioned on his visa status to a rape victim being asked about the length of her skirt. He's called people "haters" for wanting to know his visa status before they accept the tone and facts of his account. That's not a good way to gain support.

5. He has laced his commentary and defence of it with several references to his being white and educated. This has set off alarm bells that he's "just another" white anglo-saxon male in Japan with an overblown sense of entitlement. On this version, he's outraged that he's not allowed in even though his papers are not in order, and thus proceeds to elaborate/exaggerate/possibly invent what subsequently happens to him to fit in with an unspoken narrative of his national/ethnic superiority to the locals. This may sound unfair, but it's a type in Japan that one meets. Judging from comments on discussion sites, the way that he dramatises, revises and blocks when asked for details really hasn't helped dispel this impression of Johnson for those who have had it.

6. A few people have noticed that in one version of his story, he managed to drink "a few beers" on a 90 minute flight from Seoul to Tokyo in the morning (in effect, at least three within the space of sixty minutes), on little sleep and it seems not much food. He also described himself at one point as being in a state of "delirium". (As of right now, the latest version of his story on his blog has removed these details - which again doesn't breed confidence in his account.)

What should be very clear both from this site and the various comment sites mentioned here that foreigners *do* take human rights violations seriously, and are aware of abuses in the immigration system. No one challenges, and everyone is troubled by, the Amnesty accounts. It's just *this particular story* that a lot of people find difficult to believe in its entirety.

My own view is that whatever the truth is, Johnson has done a very poor job of making him self credible, both in what he wrote and in his comments defending what he wrote (and is still revising). Perhaps the lurid details are true - but he's just not making it easy for people to trust him.

For example, the guy never discusses the status of his visa... as advised by his lawyer, supposedly.

[Wezil]

6. A few people have noticed that in one version of his story, he managed to drink "a few beers" on a 90 minute flight from Seoul to Tokyo in the morning (in effect, at least three within the space of sixty minutes), on little sleep and it seems not much food.

So?

[VetLegion]

Wonder if other countries are so stupid to do the same idiotic thing ?

Immigration officials in almost all countries have huge leeway in treating foreigners.
You can be refused entry without explanation and there is no right of appeal.

Does it really matter then who deports you, the government or a private contractor?

[BlackCat]

http://www.facilicom.com/nl/trigion/...nSecurity.aspx

My dutch isn't that good, but if I'm not wrong, then they are offering securty control, not custom control or detention of suspects.

[Zoetstofzoetje]

they have job postings for ´prison controllers´ at the airport, so i guess they do that too.

google gevangenenbewaarder trigion (means prisonguard)

[The Mad Monk]

Here's some nice reading material.

It specifically addresses the "prisons".

[BlackCat]

they have job postings for ´prison controllers´ at the airport, so i guess they do that too.

google gevangenenbewaarder trigion (means prisonguard)

Sorry, but even with your google suggestion, I can't find anything saying they are guarding prisoners. The closest are "Arrestantenverzorge" wich I read as dealing out libray books, feeding, and other social activities.

I can't find a single hint about them having any kind of authority, right to enprison people or using force. It's more like mall guards.

Reading dutch is kind of funny - mix danish, german and english - add a little drop of imagination et voila, it makes sense. It's only when you guys start speaking it turns into something sinister and zombiegibberish

[DaShi]

If one person died during deportation and 18000 people were deported that year, it's unfair to say that it shows that Japanese are generally using excessive force during deportations.

Was it a white person who died?

[regexcellent]

Greater Rochester International Airport has private security and I've never had any trouble.