Flight from France: Over 70% ‘returnees’ hail from Punjab

According to the list, accessed by HT, most of the passengers have Punjabi surnames. The remaining passengers are believed to be from Gujarat and neighbouring Nepal and other countries, reveals the list

Of the 276 passengers sent back from France to India, nearly 70% hail from Punjab and most of them are in their early 30s and mid-20s, shows the passenger list.

Passengers of a charter plane, which was grounded in France for four days over suspected human trafficking, arrive in Mumbai, on Tuesday. (PTI)

According to the list, accessed by HT, most of the passengers have Punjabi surnames. The remaining passengers are believed to be from Gujarat and neighbouring Nepal and other countries, reveals the list. The aircraft, an Airbus A340, had taken off from Vatry airport near Paris around 2.30 pm local time. It landed in Mumbai shortly after 4 am, officials said, adding that

there were also 15 crew members on board. Immigration authorities questioned some of the 276 passengers, an official said, adding no passenger was detained and they were allowed to leave the airport by 11.30 am.

According to French authorities, the charter plane had 276 passengers when it took off for Mumbai, as 25 persons, including two minors, had expressed desire to apply for asylum and were still on French soil. Two others were held, produced before a judge and placed on assisted witness status, a French news channel said. Even as Punjab Police is yet to get any official information on names from the ministry of external affairs (MEA), information gathered from various sources has revealed that most of the people deported had gone to Dubai on tourist or work permits within the past two months.

“Till now, we haven’t got any official list or any information from the MEA or any other central agency about Punjab residents who were sent back from France. We will initiate action once we get thelist,” said a senior Punjab Police official, who did not want to be named.

A Jalandhar-based immigration consultant is also under scanner for “facilitating travel of some Punjab youth whose names are on the list. AIt is learnt that these youth were to travel to the United States through Nicaragua and Mexico via road.

“The Nicaragua route is now a common illegal route taken to reach the United States. It is easy to move to Mexico from Nicaragua. People then try to sneak into the US from Mexico. Few illegal consultants even charge ₹50 lakh per person with a promise of entry into the US,” said an immigration consultant, who didn’t wish to be named.

In Punjab, nearly 30 FIRs of human trafficking have been registered since May this year. However, none of these cases relates to the illegal routes taken by Punjabis to the US or other countries.

As many as 96,917 Indians attempted to enter the US illegally in the financial year 2023, signaling a 51% jump from the previous year, according to data made available by the US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP). At least 41,770 of those Indians attempted to enter the US via the Mexican land border, CBP data shows.