Foreign criminality in Japan
How bad is foreign crime in Japan ?
Japan's National Police Agency (NPA) reported 40,615 cases of crimes or offences involving foreigners for 2003. This was an increase of 16.9% from the previous year and topping the 40,000 line for the first time in history. But what is hidden behind these figures ? Do foreigners really commit much more crimes than Japanese ?
Foreign crime in Japan is increasing, but so does Japan's foreign population. In 1980, there were 782,910 foreigners registered in Japan. In 1990, it had increased to 1,075,317, then to 1,686,444 in 2000, and around 1,9 million in late 2003. That is an increase of 45% in 10 years, compared with 2,1% growth in the total population.
The 16% increase in criminal cases and 19% increase in number of people arrested from 2002 to 2003 is hardly significant, as number fluctuate a lot from year to year and had even decreased by 11% (cases) from 2000 to 2001. Over the 10 year period between 1993 and 2003, the number of cases has grown by 52%, while arrests have only increased by 38%, compared to the 45% increase in registered foreigners. Contrarily to the myth that Japanese officials want to convey, foreigners are not getting more dangerous than before.
No comments:
Post a Comment