There are prescribed ways to deal with illegals; US didn't follow these, and neither did India question it — how will Modi embrace Trump when they meet next?
A US military aircraft landed in Amritsar on February 5 with 104 Indian nationals who had either entered the US illegally or had overstayed their visas, making their stay illegal, too.
Every country has the right to insist that all foreigners who enter and live there adhere to its laws. There can be no objection to the US identifying foreigners who are living illegally and taking action to send them home. However, while doing this, the US — or any other country — has to stick to international practice and norms.
The manner in which the 104 Indians were brought to India was a shameful violation of these international practices. Indeed, they were also a violation of the US’ boast that it is a country where all persons’ rights are protected.
Also read: Opposition slams govt's silence on deportation of illegal Indian immigrants in US
Boosting Trump’s image
The exercise was meant to ensure the projection of US President Donald Trump as a strong political leader who is fulfilling his promises during the presidential election campaign. He had then repeatedly emphasised that he would get rid of illegals and ensure that future illegal immigration is stopped.
Trump is continuing to focus on the immigration theme. In his February 4 press conference along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, where he disclosed his bizarre plan for Gaza, Trump also said, “Here in America, we've begun the process of deporting foreign terrorists, jihadists and Hamas sympathisers from our soil, just as we have people who are extremely evil...They came from jails. They came from mental institutions and insane asylums. And they were dumped into our country. They’re gang members. And we’re getting them out at numbers that nobody can actually believe. And every single country is taking those people back."
Watch | Handcuffed, starved for 40 hours: Why is India soft pedalling on US deportation row?
Treated as terrorists
Certainly, the 104 Indians who were brought by a military flight to Amritsar show that the US authorities treated them as terrorists or hardened criminals. News reports indicate that apart from the 11 crew members there was a contingent of 45 American officials aboard that aircraft. A very large number of these officials would have been armed US security personnel.
This also confirms that they were treated as serious criminals when, in fact, most of them would have gone to America simply chasing the dream of a better life. To pursue this dream they would have given lakhs of rupees to human traffickers. They would have sold or mortgaged their land and family jewellery. They would have also endured great hardships in reaching America.
None of this is to condone their action of entering the US illegally but it does mean that India should simply not accept the manner in which they were brought on that flight.
Horror, humiliation
One of the immigrants disclosed the horror of the plane journey to a prominent Indian newspaper. He said, “For 40 hours, we were handcuffed, our feet tied with chains and were not allowed to move an inch from our seats. After repeated requests, we were allowed to drag ourselves to the washroom. The crew would open the door of the lavatory and shove us in.”
He also said, “They would force us to eat with handcuffs on. Our requests to the security personnel to remove the cuffs for a few minutes fell on deaf ears. The journey was not only physically painful, but also mentally exhausting.”
Also read: Indians deported: Families claim ignorance about how their kin landed in US
A government that prides itself on its nationalism cannot simply accept such conduct towards its nationals who were certainly not terrorists. This is a fit case for the head of the US embassy to be summoned to the Foreign Ministry and told that while India will accept all Indian nationals who are illegally in the US, they should be treated with dignity. And, the manner in which these persons have been treated is anything but respect.
How it should be done
There are international norms for handling cases of illegals in any country. Once an illegal is detected, the authorities of the concerned country determine if he has documents, especially a passport, which establishes his nationality.
Let us assume that he has Indian documents. In that case, the authorities will contact the Indian embassy and ask it to send him back to India. If the illegal does not have any documents and the country’s officials determine that he is an Indian they would again contact the Indian embassy.
Consular officials of the Indian embassy would meet him and seek details from him which will help establish that he is an Indian national. These details would include his name, place of residence and people who can identify him.
Going home
Ultimately, the police and the intelligence units responsible for the area where he resides will give a report of his national status after making enquiries. If they confirm that he is an Indian then the embassy would inform the local authorities and arrange to send him back to India. If he has the funds to buy his tickets then they are used. Else, he gives an undertaking that he will refund the amount to the government later.
Also read: 'We were handcuffed, legs chained': Punjab man deported from US
Sometimes, in the Gulf countries, affluent members of the Indian community come forward to pay for the tickets for such illegals and they are then sent to India on commercial flights.
Illegals are often punished for entering a foreign country and spend some time in jail, too. That cannot be objected to because India too has laws to prosecute and punish illegal migrants. What is important is to distinguish between illegal migrants and terrorists.
The 104 sent back in the military aircraft were treated by the US as if they were terrorists and India should very strongly raise its voice against such conduct.
Shadow on Modi-Trump meet
There are reports that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the US soon to meet Donald Trump. Will it not be embarrassing for Modi to embrace Trump, whom he calls his good friend, while his administration is treating unfortunate Indian illegal immigrants as if they were hardened terrorists?
It will be even more embarrassing if the Americans present a bill for the military flight. The nationalist in Modi will have to consider this point.
(The Federal seeks to present views and opinions from all sides of the spectrum. The information, ideas or opinions in the article are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Federal.)
