'Why didn't India send planes?' asks Oppn as deportation row intensifies

The Opposition questions why India didn't send planes to bring back deported citizens from the US, as tensions rise over their treatment during deportation under harsh conditions

A political controversy has erupted over the deportation of Indian nationals from the US, with the Opposition questioning why the Centre did not intervene to facilitate their return on its own terms. The deportees, who had entered the US unlawfully, were shackled and handcuffed during their journey aboard a US military plane before arriving in Amritsar on Wednesday. 

 

The government has defended its actions by citing international obligations, but Opposition leaders have criticised its failure to act and protect Indian citizens from what they describe as mistreatment.

 

Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale and Aam Aadmi Party’s Sanjay Singh, commenting after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's speech in Parliament on Thursday, pointed out that India had previously organised special flights to evacuate its citizens from conflict zones.

 

 

“We are the fifth largest economy in the world and soon we will become ‘Vishwa Guru’. As ‘Vishwa Guru’, our citizens are being shackled in chains when countries like Colombia, which doesn’t even figure in the top 10, can send an aircraft and bring their citizens back with dignity. What stops our government from sending an aircraft? We don't have a shortage of it,” Gokhale said in Parliament.

 

India had conducted large-scale evacuations during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, bringing citizens back from Wuhan, China in 2020, and from Ukraine after the Russia-Ukraine war began.

 

Opposition leaders have now questioned why the Indian government did not take similar action to return the deported nationals from the US, instead allowing them to be brought back under strict security protocols enforced by US authorities.

 

“How did the US military plane land on Indian soil? Why were our citizens brought in handcuffs?” Singh asked in Parliament.

 

“What baffles me is that the External Affairs Minister seems focused on defending US deportation policies rather than prioritising the interests of our citizens,” Gokhale said.

 

In response, Jaishankar defended the government's position, emphasising that every country has a responsibility to repatriate nationals found living illegally abroad. He explained that the deportations were carried out by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under established procedures since 2012.

 

“The deportation by the US is organised and executed by ICE authorities. Their standard operating procedure provides for the use of restraints, but we have been informed that women and children are not restrained,” Jaishankar said.

 

He said the government is in communication with US officials to ensure that deportees are treated fairly. “It is in our collective interest to encourage legal mobility and discourage illegal movement,” he added.

 

The US Embassy in India has stated that while it cannot share specific details, it is ‘vigorously enforcing’ its border and immigration laws, sending a ‘clear message: illegal migration is not worth the risk’.

 

On the face of the ongoing criticism, the Centre is contemplating a new law, tentatively called the Overseas Mobility (Facilitation and Welfare) Bill, 2024. This legislation aims to promote “safe, orderly, and regular migration for overseas employment” and could establish a framework for future deportation and immigration policies.

 

[With agency inputs]