Stealth biometrics, and who is to define my dignity, again

在留外国人の指紋採取　修学旅行で再入国なら免除へ

2008年02月15日06時00分

　日本に入国する外国人に義務づけている指紋の採取と顔写真の撮影をめぐり、法務省は１４日、日本で暮らす外国人高校生らが海外に出た修学旅行から再入国する場合に限って、免除する方針を明らかにした。同級生に国籍を明らかにしていない外国人生徒らへの教育的配慮としており、文部科学省などと検討を始める。

　在日外国人の人権問題に取り組むＮＧＯや公明党の国会議員が同日、法務省を訪れて免除を申し入れた際に、鳩山法相が年度末までに結論を出せるよう検討することを明らかにした。

　この制度は昨年１１月２０日から始まり、在日韓国・朝鮮人ら特別永住者を除く１６歳以上の全外国人が対象。しかし、制度開始当初から「高校生が人前で指紋を採取するのを見られるのは教育上問題だ」などとする批判が少なくなかった。

　文科省が１月末に全国の教育委員会などに通知を出して、外国人用ブースに並ばないで、同級生に分からないよう別室で採取・撮影するなどの対応を始めていた。

Justice minister announced on the 14th that foreign high schoolers above 16 in Japan going on school trips abroad may be exempted of biometrics scanning, for the sake of avoiding them the disgrace to be filtered out in front of the eyes of their classmates. This article from the Asahi mentions that the Education minister informed nationwide Education Committees sometimes at the end of January that the authorities were already dealing with the shame involved with the procedure by discreetly herding the foreign high schoolers above 16 years old to a hidden local for performing biometrics scanning out of sights of their unaware comrades. "Shame" and "disgrace" are of course words not used in the report, nor anywhere else, as lip service can't swallow such vocabulary. "Dignity" too is also out of scope, but who is to define what dignity should be and how it should be perceived? At least, the authorities do care about pride and prejudices, highlighting the fact that indeed the matter generates issues of pride and prejudices. And dignity. The externalization of the issue - as if the screening of permanent residents was also but a mere copy of US procedures - is an interesting implication. As for foreign university students having been through courses on moral, dignity, integrity and ostracism - granted such teaching existed - they still will have to endure behind curtains the administrative meekness when coming back from a university foreign trip, because of blood incompatibility.