Reportedly, India is working with authorities in Panama to ensure the safety of Indian migrants who have been deported to the country by the U.S. authorities.
This comes a day after a report emerged that nearly 300 individuals from various countries including Iran, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and China, who were deported from the United States, were confined in a hotel in Panama.
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Some of those deportees resorted to displaying desperate messages for “help” on their hotel room windows, stating “We are not save [sic] in our country.” Currently, Panama is being used as a transit point for deportations by the U.S.
The Indian embassy in Panama has stated that the deported individuals are safe and secure in their hotels. “Panamanian authorities have informed us that a group of Indians have reached Panama from the US . They are safe and secure at a Hotel with all essential facilities. Embassy team has obtained consular access. We are working closely with the host Government to ensure their wellbeing,” the embassy said via X.
Panama’s Security Minister Frank Abrego said that these undocumented migrants from the U.S. were receiving medical attention and food at the hotel as part of a migration agreement between Panama and the U.S. However, they are not allowed to leave the hotel while international authorities arrange for their return to their countries of origin. Like Panama, Costa Rica was expected to receive a flight of third-country deportees on Feb.19.
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President Donald Trump has, in his second term, taken an especially hardline stance on immigration. A U.S. military plane carrying 104 deportees landed in Amritsar on Feb. 5 with the deported individuals in chains.
Earlier this month, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said, “New Delhi is engaging with the U.S. to ensure that illegal Indian immigrants are not mistreated while being deported after opposition parties protested against the treatment of a group that was sent back this week.” Trump has also signed several executive orders with the aim of curbing illegal immigration.