India engaging with US to ensure Indian nationals being deported are not mistreated: S. Jaishankar
Pointing out that the process of deportation from the US to India is "not new", the foreign minister furnished year-wise figures of Indians deported from the US since 2009;
New Delhi: Facing a flak from the Opposition over the deportation of 104 illegal Indian immigrants by the United States in a military aircraft, many of whom were reportedly shackled during the flight from San Antonio in Texas to Amritsar, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar informed both Houses of Parliament on Thursday that India is "engaging" with the US to ensure that the Indian nationals being deported are "not mistreated".
Addressing the Rajya Sabha first, Mr Jaishankar said the rules framed by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) effective from 2012 "provide for the use of restraints" for illegal immigrants being deported from the US but added that as per those US rules "women and children are not restrained".
Pointing out that the process of deportation from the US to India is "not new", the foreign minister furnished year-wise figures of Indians deported from the US since 2009. He stressed the "focus should be on a strong crackdown on the illegal immigration industry" and added that law enforcement agencies will take "preventive and exemplary" action against the illegal migration industry while taking steps to ease visas for legitimate travellers.
The external affairs minister said that those deported were "misled" by agents into the illegal immigration route and had "testified to a harrowing experience". He added that authorities were "sympathetic" to their plight but questioned each deportee on how they had travelled to the US and who the agents were who had facilitated their journey.
Mr Jaishankar informed Parliament that the US has been following its rules for deportation in the same manner irrespective of whether the deportations are carried out via a chartered civilian or military aircraft. He further said that as per US rules.
"There has been no change from the past procedure… I repeat, no change from the past procedure for the flight undertaken by the US on February 5," the minister said, confirming that the US had indeed given the Indian government both advance notice for the deportations and also consular access to the Indian nationals to be deported whose Indian nationality was verified by the Indian government before the deportation.
As per the figures furnished by the external affairs minister, the number of Indians deported from the US was 734 in 2009 and fluctuated in the range of 515 to 799 till 2015. But the years 2016-20 saw a sharp spike, reaching 2,042 in the year 2019 and 1,889 the following year. But it dropped sharply thereafter but again increased to 1368 last year. The reference by the minister both to the year 2009, with which he started the deportation statistics, and to the year 2012, when the US began following its current deportation rules, was probably meant to emphasise that deportation had started well before the Modi government came to power in India in 2014.
Nevertheless, the current controversy could not have come at a worse time for the government—just days ahead of the forthcoming visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the United States, where he will hold talks with United States President Donald Trump. This also follows similar deportations by the US to countries in Latin and South America.
Following the furore, a US embassy spokesperson on Thursday said, "I can’t go into further detail on the flight. I can share that enforcing our nation’s immigration laws is critically important to the national security and public safety of the United States. It is the policy of the United States to faithfully execute the immigration laws against all inadmissible and removable aliens."
On the issue of illegal immigration, the foreign minister informed Parliament, "The House would also share the view of the government that it is our collective interest to encourage legal mobility and discourage illegal movement… Moreover, those of our citizens who are inveigled into illegal movement themselves become prey to other crimes. They are trapped into moving and working under inhumane conditions. Members are aware that, unfortunately, there have even been fatalities in the course of such illegal migration."
Mr Jaishankar added: "It is the obligation of all nations to take back their nationals if they are found to be living illegally abroad… It is a general accepted principle in international relations."
On India-US ties, the foreign minister said, "People-to-people exchanges constitute the bedrock of our deepening ties with the United States. Indeed, more than any other relationship, mobility and migration have had a key role to play in enhancing its quality".
After Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar ruled that he had allowed some "brief interventions" by the Opposition members, Congress MP R.S. Surjewala, DMK Tiruchi Siva, AITC MP Saket Gokhale, AAP MP Sanjay Singh, RJD MP Manoj Jha, CPM MP John Brittas and Shiv Sena(UBT) MP Sanjay Raut posed several queries to the foreign minister.
"Our hearts are torn and pride hurt," said an anguished Mr Surjewala. Other MPs sought to know whether Mr Modi would take up the matter during his forthcoming visit to the US with Mr Trump and also whether the government would send Indian aircraft to bring back such Indian nationals who are being deported in the future. The minister replied.
As reported earlier, a list drawn up by the United States ICE sometime last year has reportedly estimated that 14.5 lakhs illegal immigrants are slated for deportation from the US, among which 18,000 are allegedly Indians. According to some estimates, there could be about 7.25-lakh Indians who live as illegal immigrants currently in the US.