New Delhi: India has “strongly registered” its concerns with the US authorities on the treatment meted out to deportees on a flight that landed on February 5, particularly with respect to use of shackles, especially on women, the Centre informed Parliament on Friday.
Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh in a written response to a query in the Lok Sabha also said the “US side has conveyed” to the MEA that detainees on the three deportation flights (that landed on February 5, 15 and 16 respectively) were “not instructed to remove any religious head coverings and that the detainees did not request any religious accommodations during the flights aside from requesting for vegetarian meals”.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in its response said that it had also registered its concerns regarding the need to accommodate the religious sensitivities and food preferences of the deportees.
The MEA was asked whether the government has taken cognisance of reports regarding the Indian deportees being shackled during repatriation by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and if it has raised any formal diplomatic objections with the United States regarding the treatment of the Indian deportees.
The government was also asked whether the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for deportation by aircraft effective since 2012 has “allowed the use of restraints”, if so, whether India has sought any modifications for its nationals.
The MEA remains engaged with the US side regarding humane treatment of the deportees during deportation operations, Singh said.
“The ministry has strongly registered its concerns with the US authorities on the treatment meted out to deportees on the flight that landed on 5th February, 2025 particularly with respect to use of shackles, especially on women,” he said.
A batch of 104 illegal Indian immigrants were deported by the US in a C-17 Globemaster aircraft of the US Air Force that had landed at the Amritsar airport in Punjab on February 5. This was the first such batch of Indians deported by the Donald Trump administration as part of a crackdown against illegal immigrants.
The treatment meted out to these deportees had kicked a nationwide outcry.
Two more batches of illegal Indian immigrants were subsequently deported by the US on February 15 and 16.
Earlier on February 6, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had said in his statement in the Rajya Sabha that the government is engaging with the US to ensure the deported Indians are not mistreated, underlining the focus should be on strong crackdown on the illegal migration industry.
In the query in the Lok Sabha, the MEA was also asked whether the ministry has received any complaints from deported individuals regarding mistreatment during repatriation, if so, the details of the reports along with the action taken reports against the same.
“The US Standard Operating Procedure to organise and execute deportations effective from November 2012 calls for the use of restraints on deportees. The US authorities have conveyed that restraints are applied to ensure the safety and security of the mission. While women and minors are generally not shackled, the flight officer in charge of a deportation flight has the final say on the matter,” Singh said.
“The US side has confirmed that no women or children were restrained on the deportation flights that landed in India on 15th and 16th February, 2025 respectively. This has also been confirmed and recorded by our agencies after interviewing the deportees on their arrival in India,” he added.
