Thankfully, somehow they have managed to reach back home losing every penny in turn, but the fear of dying on foreign soil still lingers in their minds. Their dream of a good life is gone by now and they now want to live a life of dignity with their family members. Thousands of people in the country reach abroad on the basis of wrong documents, most of whom are forced to live in an anonymity. Few people are able to reach home safely after earning for few years in some way. However, most people go in search of jobs and work though agents who illegally transport them to places from where return is very difficult.
The human trafficking racket was recently unearned in Haryana with 73 Haryana residents getting deported from the United States for illegally entering the country, the state government recently. Peeved, the Haryana Government has set up a seven-member special investigation team to probe human trafficking racket.
The home minister, Anil Vij, said the SIT to be headed by Inspector General of Police (IGP) Karnal Range, Ms Bharti Arora, will probe the all incidents of Kabootarbazi” (human trafficking) in Haryana. Anyone who is a victim of such human trafficking can contact the SIT.
The minister said the US had recently deported 135 Indian nationals to the country out of which 75 were Haryana residents. Earlier the US had deported 73 Haryana residents against whom first information reports (FIRs) have been registered. Vij said while these cases of human trafficking have come to light from the US, similar cases can also be there in other countries. He said the state residents deported from the US are victims of human trafficking and faced inhuman treatment during their journey from India to the US.
The Home Minister informed that “They were sent through sea and forest routes. And sometimes they were hidden in trucks without food and subjected to torture. They were caught as soon as they entered the US and deported back to India.” He said that a big racket is behind this human trafficking and investigations are under progress, as we need to find out who is involved in this racket.
FIRs were registered after most of the Haryana residents deported from the US recently claimed that they were victims of human trafficking. These 73 people from Haryana were part of a group of over Indians who arrived at Amritsar in Punjab by a special chartered flight last week after being deported from the US.
Most of the deported Indian nationals had entered the US from its southern border with Mexico and had exhausted all legal options. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE arrested them while trying to enter the US illegally.
It is learnt that hundreds of Indians who arrived in the US and Mexico illegally were sent back. Of these, more than 200 people were from Haryana and Punjab. Hearing the pain of these young men mostly between ages 21 to 35, one will think a thousand times before venturing out abroad. There tale is tale of misery, they had to walk through thick jungles and inaccessible paths, crossing border from one country to another stealthily. Then walk to the next stop. The agents had duped them by telling that they will be able to earn millions and would land directly in America and get work but little did they realise thay they would reach a dark tunnel.
Kuljit Singh of village Shambali in Karnal district of Haryana has studied upto class 12th. His family had a land holding of just three acres to survice. He was desperate for a job. His father Jagjit Singh met a person named Shivkumar who told that he would get his son settled as he has already sent many youngsters abroad. He suggested that Portugal will be fine for him, he will get work there.
The deal was struckfor three lakhs but Jagjit Singh did not have that much money. He sold a part of land for 12 lakhs. Shiv Kumar also prepared all the documents. Everything was fine and Kuljeet was sent abroad but instead of Porgugal he landed in Malaysia. The government there caught him on the charge of illegally entering the country. The agent kept recovering money from Jagjit Singh in return for his release.
Jagjit says that Kuljeet was infected with dengue in Malaysia. That broke the spirits of the family who wanted their son back at any cost. Finally, the son came back after a month. Jagjit has registered a case at the police station, which is under investigation. However, he does not expect much from police investigations and return of money from the agent.
Rahul Yadav of Karnal is a graduate and with big dreams in his eyes he contacted a travel agent who promised that he would arrange work for him for 20 lakh in US. He was apprehended by Mexican police before entering America. From here he was sent to a detention center. There were people from other countries besides India.
Rahul said that when we were in trouble, our families were somehow praying for our return. Many of ushad started believing that they would not be able to live in these camps for long. Often we were given beef in their food. We were all physically and mentally broken. Everyone would remember the village, house, family and country, but it was like a dream. We spent about five months in these camps, which were like five years for us. Sukhwinder Singh is a polytechnic degree holder from Haryana. He paid 18 lakh rupees to the agents to reach America. This money was raised with great difficulty. He said that he had dreams that he would earn money and live comfortably and would help his family. But it was end of a dream.
With 73 Haryana residents getting deported from the United States for illegally entering the country, the state government on Tuesday set up a seven-member special investigation team to probe human trafficking racket.
The home minister, Anil Vij, said the SIT to be headed by Inspector General of Police (IGP) Karnal Range, Ms Bharti Arora, will probe the all incidents of Kabootarbazi” (human trafficking) in Haryana. Anyone who is a victim of such human trafficking can contact the SIT.
The minister said the US had recently deported 135 Indian nationals to the country out of which 75 were Haryana residents. Earlier the US had deported 73 Haryana residents against whom first information reports (FIRs) have been registered. Vij said while these cases of human trafficking have come to light from the US, similar cases could also be there in other countries. He said the state residents deported from the US are victims of human trafficking and faced inhuman treatment during their journey from India to the US.
FIRs were registered after most of the Haryana residents deported from the US recently claimed that they were victims of human trafficking. These 73 people from Haryana were part of a group of over Indians who arrived at Amritsar in Punjab by a special chartered flight last week after being deported from the US.
Most of the deported Indian nationals had entered the US from its southern border with Mexico and had exhausted all legal options. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE arrested them while trying to enter the US illegally.
Donkey flights
The use of illegal backdoor routes into a country is known as a ‘donkey flight’, a popular escape path for Indians hoping to immigrate to the US.
In 2018, almost 9,000 Indian nationals were apprehended on the US-Mexico border while trying to cross over illegally. The number was just under 3,000 in 2017 and 76 in 2007. These figures are according to Customs and Border Police (CBP).
This method is adopted to not send immigrants directly to a country but through several routes. For example, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Mexico and destinations to reach America. This involves dangers as one has to travel somewhere along the way of the sea, somewhere between the forests, somewhere river-drains have to be crossed.
The agents charge millions of rupees for this stingy visa. Some even charge extra money in the name of being safe. After getting caught, he charges huge money to redeem them. It should be seen as a ransom. The responsibility of the agents is to carry the yen ken type to the untouchable country, they do not even see what happens after that.
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