Flagged mistreatment issue, people should be treated with dignity: MEA on deportation row

NEW DELHI, (IANS): Emphasising that people should be treated fairly and with dignity, including those being deported, India on Friday said that it has flagged issues of mistreatment of illegal migrants deported from the United States, earlier this week.

A day after the External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar made a comprehensive statement on the issue in Parliament, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said New Delhi has registered its concerns with Washington about the conditions under which people were brought back. 

"This is a valid issue to raise, and I want to assure you that we are in touch with US officials regarding all these matters. This is an ongoing discussion, not a one-time conversation. We have always emphasised that people should be treated fairly and with dignity, including those being deported. Whenever any case of mistreatment comes to our attention, we take it up, and we will continue to do so in the future," Misri told reporters during a media briefing ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to France and the United States, next week.

The Foreign Secretary spotlighted that EAM Jaishankar had already drawn Parliament's attention to the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) that has been followed in such cases since last many years besides also making it clear that there was no change from past procedures regarding deportation flight's clearance and approval.

While assuring that the government will continue to take up any instances of mistreatment that come to its attention, he made it clear that action needs to be taken across the system against the underlying ecosystem that thrives on promoting illegal immigration.

"The most critical point raised by the External Affairs Minister was identifying the real issue — the illegal migration ecosystem. He highlighted how human trafficking gangs deceive innocent people, extort large sums of money from them, and send them abroad illegally, only for them to face deportation later. There is an urgent need for action against such criminal networks, and the government will take necessary steps to address this issue," Misri mentioned.

He stated that the ministry has some information regarding the number of illegal Indian immigrants in the United States, and is verifying the available figures, as needed.

"It is important to note that the process of deportations is not new. As the External Affairs Minister emphasised in Parliament yesterday, this has been an ongoing process. While he cited figures from 2009, he could have referred to earlier data as well, as those figures are also available. In fact, there are multiple categories of people returning from the United States. Some are returned, while others are removed, and the distinction lies in the judicial or legal processes applied to each," Misri told reporters.