Hyderabad: India on Saturday issued a démarche to the American Embassy in New Delhi, expressing concern over the detention of 129 Indian students in the United
States, and sought immediate consular access to them. The Indians are among the 130 foreign students arrested on Wednesday by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement for enrolling at a fake university in Detroit’s Farmington Hills, allegedly to remain in the US.
Eight alleged recruiters, all of them Telugus, have been arrested.
“Our concern over the dignity and well-being of the detained students and the need for immediate consular access for Indian officials to the detainees was reiterated,” a ministry of external affairs statement said.
The Ministry of External Affairs underlined to the US Embassy that the students, who may have been duped into enrolling in the “university”, should be treated apart from the recruiters. It said India continued to closely monitor and take proactive measures to address the situation.
“We have urged the US side to share full details and regular updates of the students with the government, to release them from detention at the earliest and not to resort to deportation against their will,” the statement said.
Of the 129 Indians, about 30 have contacted the MEA for legal and consular help.
The MEA has shared the onus with the Indian community in the US to provide legal and consular help to those detained. A 24/7 helpline has been established in the embassy at Washington DC for assistance related to the detention of students.
The helpline numbers are: +1-202-322-1190 and +1-202-340-2590 and the email address is: cons3.washington@mea.gov.in.
In an official statement, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said: “We have mobilised the Indian community organisations in the US to extend all possible support to the Indian students who are affected by this incident.”
Indian diplomats have visited detention centres in New Jersey, Atlanta, Houston, Michigan, California, Louisiana, North Carolina and St Louis to extend consular assistance to the detained students.
