Fourth Flight Carrying 12 Indians Deported To Panama By US Lands In Delhi

A fourth plane carrying 12 illegal Indian immigrants deported by the US landed in Delhi on Sunday, according to the officials. The deportees flew back to India via Panama, as per the officials. 

The latest batch included 12 Indian nationals from Panama, four of them from Punjab and three each from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. They landed in New Delhi via Istanbul onboard a Turkish Airlines flight, reported India Today. The identity of one individual was not ascertained at the moment. 

The deportees from Punjab, hailing from different districts were sent to Amritsar on a flight. The development marks the first batch of Indians to be repatriated from Panama after the US deported around 299 illegal immigrants who were trying to cross into America. 

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Panama and Costa Rica have agreed to facilitate the repatriation of deportees from the US. Under the agreement, the US is transferring undocumented migrants from various Asian nations, who have either refused to return or whose governments have refused to accept them, to these Central American countries. 

The exact number of Indian nationals among the 299 deportees sent to Panama is not known at the moment. The deportees arrived in Panama on three planes last week after President Jose Raul Mulino agreed that his country would become a “bridge” country for them.

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On Friday, the Ministry of External Affairs said it has seen some reports about deportation flights to Panama and New Delhi is “verifying the details” of whether the individuals are Indian or not. 

“Once the verification details are complete, then arrangements will be made for the return of these Indian nationals back home,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters in response to a query during his weekly briefing.