New Delhi: The second flight carrying illegal immigrants from India and those being deported from the US landed in Amritsar, Punjab on Saturday (February 15) night. The flight that land on Saturday will have 119 people.
Of these, 67 are from Punjab itself. 33 are from Haryana, eight from Gujarat, three from Uttar Pradesh, two each from Goa, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, and one each from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. This time, the Indians are being brought in a military aircraft. Meanwhile, the details of the passengers on the flight that will arrive on Sunday are not yet clear.
The information about the next two batches of deportations came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met US President Donald Trump in person. In his talks with Trump, Modi took the position that illegal immigration and human trafficking are not a problem affecting India alone but a global phenomenon. Modi had also explained the policy that no one who enters a foreign country illegally has any right to stay there.
The first US military plane carrying Indian illegal immigrants landed in Amritsar on February 5 after Trump took office. The allegation that the passengers on board were handcuffed and their legs were chained was a big topic of discussion in the country, including in Parliament. Subsequently, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had clarified in a special statement in Parliament that the deportation or detention of illegal immigrants is not a new thing. However, the Ministry of External Affairs had informed before Modi’s trip that it had asked the US not to treat those being deported inhumanely.
