Curdoms against Trump: Indians tied up during 40-hour flight

Von WOM

In a current incident that stirs up the anger abroad about the immigration policy of President Donald Trump, around 100 Indian migrants deported were kept in handcuffs during their 40-hour return flight, even during the toilet breaks. This measure has caused outrage in India.

protests in India

On Thursday, Indian MPs demonstrated outside of Parliament, some wore handcuffs, while others mock the much -praised friendship between Trump and the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In New Delhi, members of the youth organization of the largest opposition party burned a doll that is Trump.

reactions to deportation policy

The anger in India comes shortly before a expected visit from Modi in the White House, where he will meet Trump, which he described as a "true friend". S. Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, a minister of the government in the western state of Punjab, where the deportation freight landed, asked Modi to "use his friendship to solve the problem". He also questioned "how useful this friendship is if it cannot help Indian citizens in need," said a statement from his office.

experiences of the deported

The flight to India has been the longest since the Trump administration started military aircraft to deport migrants, a US official said. Akashdeep Singh, 23 years old, who arrived in Punjab on Wednesday with 103 other deported, reported: "Our hands were tied up and our ankles tied with chains before we started the flight." He added: "We asked the military officers to lose our handcuffs to eat or go to the toilet, but they treated us terribly and without any consideration."

suppression and the search for better possibilities

The 35-year-old Sukhpal Singh deported also spoke of the fact that the handcuffs were created during the entire flight, even during a stopover to refuel on the Pacific island of Guam. "They treated us like criminals," he said. "When we tried to get up because our legs swelled due to the handcuffs, they shouted at us, we should sit down."

Junge Indians looking for job opportunities make up a considerable part of the undocumented migrants in the USA, many of them have taken the dangerous path through Latin America towards the US border. Numerous migrants report a lack of perspectives in their homeland, where a labor crisis suffocates the hopes of young people in the most populous country in the world.

an increase in illegal immigration

In just four years, the number of Indian citizens who illegally enter the United States has risen dramatically-from 8.027 in the 2018-19 financial year to 96,917 in 2022-23, as official government data show. Families have already reported how they sold land to pay the high fees of "travel agents" who help migrants on the risky trip to the USA.

Sukhpal Singh, who has a son and a daughter, explained: "I wanted to work, for a better life, for a better future." He had hoped to be able to better take care of his family through a job in the United States. "You can see it in films and hear from people that there is work there and that people are successful. That's why I wanted to go."