The first batch of 104 illegal immigrants were brought back to their home country by the US military aircraft with the highest number of 33 each from Haryana and Gujarat. The US military aircraft C-17 landed at Amritsar Airport in Punjab on Wednesday afternoon. A total of 30 deportees were residents of Punjab. Three each from Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra while two from Chandigarh. The deportees include 25 women and 12 minors, with the youngest passenger being just four years old. Forty-eight people are below the age of 25. The flight, which took off from Texas on Tuesday, also carried 11 crew members and 45 US officials overseeing the deportation process.
Notably, the deportees are currently being held at Amritsar Airport by the Indian authorities. As per the information received, a person from the family who had come to pick up the children said that he is a resident of Amritsar and had come to pick up the child at the airport. During this, he accused the media and said that because of them, he will now have to go to the police station to pick up his child. The person stated that the police had taken the child to the police station for investigation. The passengers who landed from the airport have been detained by the police and the passengers are being investigated at the police station.
As per the information received, most of the deportees allegedly spent Rs 35-40 lakh on Dunki routes to enter the United States. Minority Commission Chairman, Iqbal Singh Lalpura while talking to True Scoop said, "Most of the deportees who have been sent back to India traveled to the US via Donkey route. The immigrants would have spent Rs 35-40 lakh on Dunki to enter the US. Now, since, they have been sent back, it is obvious that they will face financial problems as they come from middle and lower-middle families. There must be people who could not even recover the money they spent on the Dunki route during their time in the US."
In the meanwhile, the travel agents of India may now come under the scanner as the Police will most probably question the deportees on how they went to the US.
What is Dunki aka Donkey Route?
The "donkey route” which is now famous as 'Dunki' due to Shah Rukh Khan's movie is a long and roundabout journey designed to dodge border controls. The risks and challenges of this journey are significant, but the potential rewards, such as higher wages and improved living conditions, outweigh the supposed dangers for many who choose this method of immigration.
This method is facilitated by travel agents spread across India and other countries. As per reports, these agents ask for more than Rs 35-40 lakh per person in states like Gujarat and Punjab. The immigrants are sent to other countries such as Dubai, France, the West Indies, or other Caribbean countries. Then, infiltration into the US is carried out through the Mexico or Canada border, oftentimes forcing the immigrants to travel miles on foot.