Parliamentary panel takes note of deportations of illegal Indian immigrants from US

New Delhi: A parliamentary panel has taken note of the deportations of illegal Indian immigrants back to the country from the US in recent months and "probable mass deportations in the future", and urged that the government should deal with such a situation in a "more empathetic" manner.

The Ministry of External Affairs in its response has told the panel that it has taken note of the recommendation.

The report, titled 'Action Taken by the Government on the Observations/ Recommendations contained in the Sixth Report of the Committee on the subject -- Indian Diaspora Overseas including NRIs, PIOs, OCIs and Migrant Workers: All Aspects of their Conditions and Welfare, including the Status of the Emigration Bill', was presented in Parliament on Thursday.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs is headed by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor.

"In the wake of deportations of illegal Indian immigrants back to the country from the United States and probable mass deportations in the future, the Committee had expressed their feelings in unequivocal terms about the humanitarian concerns surrounding the issue," the panel said in its report.

The panel has been apprised that since India is against illegal immigration, the country is committed to taking back its nationals who are illegal immigrants in other countries.

"Further, it was informed that most countries have necessary SOPs in place to handle deportation-related matters and, accordingly, MEA too has an SOP in place, whereby nationality and security verification process is undertaken by MEA in coordination with other agencies," it said.

"Responding to the Committee's shared feelings about detainees restrained by handcuffs, waist chains and leg irons during flights by US Air Force, it was informed that the US actions were in accordance with the Restraints Policy No. 11155.1, Section 5.10, effective from November 19, 2012," it added.

The panel was further informed that "honouring the repeated requests from MEA not to shackle deportees, particularly women and children", in the second deportation flight undertaken on February 15, women and children were "not shackled" by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Though the Committee was also of the view that it is the mandated responsibility of any government to take back its citizens who have entered and lived in a country without proper documentation, "they desire that the government should deal with situation in a more empathetic manner upholding the human rights of migrants and explore ways and means to facilitate the return of such illegal immigrants to India without hurting their self-respect", it said.

The Centre in its response told the panel that it may be noted that foreign nationals who have entered the US illegally, or who have overstayed their visa validity, or have been found to be staying in the US without any valid documentation, or have criminal convictions against them, are likely to be deported.

"It is the obligation of all countries to take back their nationals, if they are found to be living illegally abroad. This is, however, subject to an unambiguous verification of their nationality. This is not a policy practised only by India; it is a generally accepted principle in international relations," it added.

The panel has also recommended specific and detailed "re-integration programmes" by the government, integrating the inputs, expertise and experience of those states which have developed ways and means to reintegrate workers returning from abroad.

The government told the panel that the ministry has taken note of the recommendation of the Committee.

"It may, however, be noted that responsibility of reintegration of returned Indian migrants rests with respective state governments from where the emigrants belong and not with the central government," it said.

The parliamentary panel said it also noted instances of dubious firms involved in "fake recruitment job" offers having lured Indian nationals mostly through social media channels to South-East Asian countries including Cambodia, Myanmar, Lao PDR to keep them as bonded labourers to carry out cybercrime and other fraudulent activities from scam centres operating in these countries.

"Though the exact number of Indian nationals stuck in these countries is not known, the Committee have been informed that through concerted efforts, 1,091 Indian nationals from Cambodia, 770 from Laos and 497 from Myanmar, including software engineers have been rescued till date," the panel said.

This further highlights the vulnerabilities faced by Indian job seekers, even professionals, in the hands of unscrupulous agents and middlemen, it added.

"Above all, the Committee desire that our embassies or consulates in the destination countries should always be available for assistance in verifying the employer through email or phone calls," the Committee said in the report.

The Centre told the panel that the exact number of Indian nationals stuck in Cambodia, Myanmar, Lao PDR is not known, as Indian nationals often reach these scam centres in the country on their own volition through fraudulent or unscrupulous recruitment agents or agencies and through illegal channels.

On the issue of conversion of PIO (Person of Indian Origin) cards to OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) cards, the panel noted that "the scheme of PIO cards has been discontinued since 2015 and all PIO cardholders (handwritten and machine-readable) have been advised to convert their PIO card to OCI card before December 31, 2025".