Photo: AP
New Delhi: Congress expressed concern on Thursday about the deportation of 50 Indian nationals to Panama as part of the Trump administration's anti-illegal immigration policies.
Expressing concern over the issue, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “We would have thought that Indian citizens deported by the Trump Administration would be sent back to India with dignity.”
“Such deportations have taken place in a most inhuman and demeaning manner. Now come reports that more Indian citizens have been deported but to Panama. What is going on?” he wrote on X, TNIE reported.
Echoing the sentiment, Congress general secretary K C Venugopal questioned why Indians are being transported to Panama rather than being repatriated to India, and what deal Modi struck with US President Donald Trump.
“How is PM Modi allowing our citizens to be treated in this inhumane fashion? This deportation fiasco is becoming a huge insult to our country,” he said in a post on X.
“Barely a week after PM Modi met President Trump and waxed eloquent about their friendship, our citizens are randomly sent to Latin American countries, instead of being respectfully repatriated,” Venugopal said.
“What deal did PM Modi strike that involved suffering total humiliation as part of our bargain?” he asked.
According to accounts, the Indians were among 299 migrants transported to Panama by the United States. Panama has informed India of the safe arrival of a group of Indians deported from the United States, and the Indian mission in the nation is working closely with the host government to ensure their well-being after getting consular access to them, according to sources.