Three foreign-born residents of Japan sue the country’s government over alleged racial profiling. British Broadcasting Corporation the report said. The three men, each from India, Pakistan and the United States, filed a lawsuit at Tokyo National Court and held a news conference with their lawyers on Monday.

The three said they were distressed by repeated police interviews based on their appearance and race, which they said violated the Constitution. They are seeking compensation of 3 million yen (approximately US$20,355) per person from the national government, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Aichi Prefectural Government.

“Racial profiling is nothing more than discrimination based on race, national origin and color,” they claimed.

“There is a general perception that ‘foreigner’ equals ‘criminal,’” Saeed Zain, who was born in Pakistan, told reporters. It is worth noting that Mr Zain is a Japanese citizen born in Pakistan who has lived in Japan for twenty years, attended school there and is fluent in Japanese.

“I’ve been cooperating with (the police) because I think it’s important to maintain public safety, but when this happens not just once but more than 10 times, I do start to become suspicious,” he added.

Another plaintiff is Matthew, who is of Indian origin and has lived in Japan for more than 20 years and has permanent residency. He said that he was stopped and questioned by the police many times on the street and was afraid to go out.

“I didn’t know what social withdrawal was until recently. I felt like every time I finished work, I would hide at home,” he said.

The third plaintiff, an American-born man, faced the same type of questioning from the Japanese.He reportedly expressed a desire to raise awareness of the issue among Japanese people Reuters.

“Even if we lose… I hope people understand that this is something that happens every day and we have to do something for future generations to prevent this from happening,” he told reporters.

According to their lawyers, this is the first lawsuit of its kind in Japan.

The United Nations defines racial profiling as “the process and investigation by which law enforcement relies on generalizations based on a person’s race, color, ancestry, or national or ethnic origin rather than objective evidence or individual behavior to stop, search, or identify people, or Establishing that a person is involved in criminal activity.”

Despite rising immigration, foreign-born residents make up only 2.3% of Japan’s population, one of the lowest proportions in the OECD.