New Delhi: India had strongly registered its concerns with the US on the treatment meted out to Indian deportees on a flight that landed on February 5, particularly on the use of shackles, especially on women, parliament was told today.
Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh told the Lok Sabha that from January 2025 till date, a total of 388 Indian nationals have been deported to India from the United States.
Of these, 333 Indian nationals, after verification, were deported directly from the US to India on three separate chartered flights which landed on February 5, 15 and 16 respectively.
Separately, the US through Panama deported 55 Indian nationals who arrived in India on commercial flights.
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities have recently shared with the MEA information pertaining to an additional 295 individuals who are detained in their custody with final orders of removal from the US.
The Ministry of External Affairs, along with other concerned agencies, is currently verifying the details of these 295 individuals.
The Government of India remains engaged with the US side regarding the humane treatment of deportees during such operations. The Ministry has strongly registered its concerns with the US authorities on the treatment meted out to deportees on the flight that landed on February 5th, particularly with respect to use of shackles, especially on women, the minister said.
The US Standard Operating Procedure to organize and execute deportations effective from November 2012 calls for the use of restraints on deportees.
The US side has confirmed that no women or children were restrained on the deportation flights that landed in India on February 15 and 16 respectively. “This has also been confirmed and recorded by our agencies after interviewing the deportees on their arrival in India,” he added.
The need to promote safe, orderly and legal migration while cracking down on illegal immigration networks was discussed during the visit of Prime Minister Modi to the US on February 12-13.
India’s consistent stance against illegal immigration while seeking humane treatment of deportees was reiterated. Both sides acknowledged the need to cooperate closely in aggressively addressing illegal immigration and human trafficking by taking strong action against bad actors, criminal facilitators, and illegal immigration networks, he added.
UNI
