Editorial: Perilous migration

Grounding of Nicaragua-bound flight with 303 Indians in France must serve as a wake-up call for authorities to get to the bottom of this murky affair

Illegal immigration from India, particularly to the United States, is a problem that doesn’t get much attention from policymakers, though it has registered an alarming rise. The recent incident involving a Nicaragua-bound chartered flight with 303 Indians that was grounded in France has highlighted the issue and must serve as a wake-up call for the authorities to get to the bottom of this murky affair. A thorough probe must be carried out to unearth the network, including touts and travel agencies, that facilitated the operation. The final destination of what is called the “donkey route” was reportedly the US, though the passengers only had a Nicaraguan visa. How they were to travel beyond the Central American country is still not known. The French authorities have since detained two persons for their role in the racket while 25 passengers, including two minors, have sought asylum in France. The remaining passengers have been sent back to India. Nicaragua is widely seen as a major transit route for undocumented people looking to enter America and doesn’t have a proper mechanism to prevent human trafficking. In the latest case, most passengers were Indian workers based in the United Arab Emirates intending to use Nicaragua as a gateway to the United States or Canada. An Airbus A340 operated by Romania-based Legend Airlines departed from Fujairah International Airport in Dubai. It was grounded in France after the French police got an anonymous tip that some of its passengers may be victims of human trafficking.

While no evidence of trafficking was found, the inquiry gave way to concerns about undocumented immigration which is still being investigated by the French authorities. The grounding of the Nicaragua-bound flight is the latest in the spate of incidents that made news about Indians failing in their attempts to enter the US. Despite the risks of detainment or even death, the US Customs and Border Protection authorities encountered an unprecedented 96,917 undocumented Indian immigrants in 2022-23, a 51.61% rise compared with the previous financial year. Among them, over 41,000 tried their luck via the Mexican border. A decade ago, this number stood at only 1,500. The agents who facilitate the migration take Indians through the “donkey route”, which involves moving from one country to another till migrants reach either Canada or Mexico, after which they cross the US border on foot. The most popular donkey route is through Latin American countries which provide visas on arrival for Indian citizens. This notorious route is fraught with many dangers. In 2019, a six-year-old Punjabi girl died of heatstroke in a scorching Arizona desert after her mother left her with other migrants to search for water. Indian authorities must work in close coordination with the immigration agencies of the US, Central American nations and other stakeholders to expose international cartels thriving on human trafficking.