[/floatl]AHN: Strip-Searches For Japanese Yakuza Tattoos Banned In The Philippines
The Philippine government on Thursday ordered all immigration officers to stop requiring Japanese nationals suspected of being members of the Yakuza crime syndicates to undergo strip-searches to look for the gang's distinctive tattoos. Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan ordered the implementation of the "no touch, no contact" policy banning all immigration officers to conduct strip-searching on suspected Yakuza gang members because of numerous complaints. Libanan said, "Henceforth, the conduct of monitoring, examination and inspection of departing and arriving passengers shall be limited only to their travel papers and documents"...Libanan adds tattoos alone cannot be the sole basis to bar any foreigner from entering the country..."Unless a tattoo is morally offensive, indecent and vulgar or [of a] politically and racially insidious depiction, it should be treated as an art," Libanan said....However, the new policy does not remove the ban on any members of Yakuza into the country...more...
