I was dismayed at the vitriol expressed toward Emmanuelle Bodin by Shigure Tatsushige in his Jan. 20 letter. The idea that people should be deported because they left an area that was hazardous to the health of them and their families is ridiculous.

Tatsushige oddly doesn’t excoriate the Japanese citizens who left during that troubled time. Should they be forced to leave Japan as well, and if not, why not?

The fact is that most foreigners did not flee Japan, and most of them donated money and time to help Japan following the disaster. To demonize the few who for quite logical reasons left doesn’t make any sense, and smacks of xenophobic nationalist nonsense.

The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer’s own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.