Recently, around 100 deported Indian migrants were subjected to a distressing experience during their 40-hour flight back home. The migrants, including 23-year-old Akashdeep Singh and 35-year-old Sukhpal Singh, revealed that they were kept in shackles throughout the journey.
Akashdeep Singh shared that their hands were cuffed and ankles tied with chains before boarding the flight. Despite requesting military officials to remove the restraints for basic needs like eating or using the bathroom, the migrants were allegedly treated poorly and without any compassion.
During the flight, the shackles remained on, even during a refueling stopover on the Pacific island of Guam. Sukhpal Singh mentioned that attempts to stand due to swelling legs from the handcuffs were met with harsh reprimands to sit back down.
This incident marked the longest deportation flight distance since the Trump administration began utilizing military aircraft for such operations. The treatment of Colombian deportees in a similar manner on a previous flight had sparked controversy between the US and Colombia.
Opposition Indian lawmakers, some symbolically wearing shackles, protested outside India's parliament in response to the mistreatment of the deportees. Indian Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar assured that the Indian government was in talks with US authorities to ensure the humane treatment of returning deportees during flights.
Efforts to reach out to the Pentagon and US Customs and Border Protection for comments on the matter are ongoing. The situation has raised concerns about the treatment of migrants during deportation processes and calls for greater respect for human rights in such operations.
