Nearly half of the Indians deported from the US on five commercial flights from Panama between February 20 and March 2 were Punjabi citizens, according to Union Junior Foreign Secretary Kirti Vardhan Singh.
Of the 55 illegal immigrants deported on these commercial flights, 27 (49%) were from Punjab, 22 (40%) from Haryana, three (5%) from Uttar Pradesh, two (4%) from Gujarat, and one (2%) from Rajasthan, Singh said in a written reply to a question from University of South Africa MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal in the Lok Sabha. Since Donald Trump's election as US president, a total of 388 illegal immigrants have been deported from India, including 333 on military aircraft, 153 of whom (40%) were from Punjab.
Five commercial flights that landed in Delhi on February 20, 23, 27, 28, and March 2 showed fluctuating numbers of deported Punjabis. The flight on February 20 carried two immigrants from Haryana and none from Punjab, while the flight on February 23 carried 12 immigrants, including four from Punjab. The flight on February 27 brought 11 deportees, including eight from Punjab, while the flight on February 28 carried nine immigrants, including six from Punjab. The flight on March 2 carried 21 immigrants, including nine from Punjab.
Earlier, 333 illegal immigrants were deported from the US on three military aircraft on February 5, 15 and 16, of which 126 (38%) were from Punjab, 110 (33%) from Haryana and the rest from other states, the minister said.
The minister explained that landing sites for repatriation flights are selected based on operational convenience, airspace routes, and proximity to the deportees' final destinations. He said the government had expressed concerns to US authorities regarding the treatment of deportees, particularly the use of restraints. While US procedures allow for restraints, assurances were given that no women or children were shackled on the flights that landed on February 15 and 16. "This was confirmed and recorded by our agencies after interviewing the deportees upon arrival in India," the minister stated.
MPs Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Selvaganapati TM raised issues regarding the landing permits for US military aircraft, the choice of Amritsar as a landing site, fair media coverage, distribution of deportees across states and the treatment of deportees.