What the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said about us using military jet to deport Indians

On By Littum


New Delhi:

Over 100 Native Americans who live illegally in the United States were deported and sent back in a C -17 Globemaster III – a military aircraft – which landed in Amritsar on Tuesday. The one-of-a-kind deportation of Native Americans from the United States or any other country using a military aircraft raised questions about the treatment of Indian citizens. Foreign Secretary, Vikram Misri, today by a press briefing responded to the use of an American Air Force Aircraft and the conditions where Indians were deported.

“This particular deportation is somewhat different compared to previous flights. In the US system itself, it was described as a national security operation, so maybe that’s why they used a military aircraft,” Misri said.

The center has announced that the US authorities have told India that 487 suspected Indian citizens with “final removal orders”.

On Tuesday, a US military aircraft landed at Amritsar Airport with 104 handcuffed Indians with chopped legs for a flight that lasted almost 24 hours.

USBP chief Michael W Banks published the 24-second video on X with a statement saying: “… successfully returned illegal aliens to India, which marked the farthest deportation flight, yet using military transport. This mission emphasizes Our commitment to enforce immigration laws .. “

“If you cross illegally, you will be removed” – a warning followed at the end of the video. The deported who were presented as ‘prisoners’ by the United States were accompanied by American soldiers boarding the flight.

Ever since Donald Trump took control of the oval office, he has promised to deport ‘illegal aliens’ – an expression, often referred to as derogatory to migrants who entered a country – back to their homeland. Previously, US military aircraft has flown immigrants deported to Guatemala, Peru and Honduras.

The first deportation round involving Native Americans comes a week before Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the United States on February 12 and 13. This will be Prime Minister Modi’s first meeting with Donald Trump, who was inaugurated as president last month.

Minister of External Affairs, S Jaisankar, spoke in Parliament yesterday and said that the United States deportation of illegal migrants is not a new development and has been going on for several years.

Mr. Jaishankar pointed to hundreds of Indians deported each year to illegally enter or reside in this country. These figures ranged from 530 in 2012 to over 2,000 in 2019.

“It is in our collective interest to encourage legal mobility and discourage illegal movement (and) it is the obligation to all countries to take back their citizens if it turns out that they live illegally abroad.”

“The process of deportation (of the US) is therefore not new … It’s been there for years. This is not a policy that only applies to a country. Our focus must be on crashes on illegal migrants,” he said, there also recognizes, “We engage in the United States to make sure the deportants are not abused.”

He also said that US authorities had not detained women and children, and that “the needs of deported, related to food and other necessities, including possible medical emergencies” were complied with.

Sending 104 Indian back – How much did it cost?

The Indians undertook the treacherous ‘donkey’ route to reach the United States. They shared how their dreams were crushed after spending Lakhs to arrive only to be deported a few months later.

C-17 is a heavy military aircraft that has a high maintenance cost compared to normal commercial carriers. Last week, the flight to Guatemala had probably incurred a cost of $ 4,675 per year. Migrant, five times $ 853, the average cost of a one -way first class, according to the news agency Reuters.

The costs were significantly higher for immigration and customs enforcement (ICE), which hired commercial jets for deportation in the past.

The cost of deporting 64 migrants to Guatemala on the C-17 aircraft was about $ 28,500 an hour, Reuters quoted a named American official. The flight took approx. 10.5 hours to end the journey. This excluded any Earth time or the time taken to prepare to start.

Baser Guatemala as a reference, the cost of operating a C-17 and
Flight from San Antonio, Texas to Amritsar, which lasts 19 hours, combined with the cost of transporting a deported, the amount comes over half a million dollars or Rs 4 crore.