‘Inhuman treatment’ of illegal immigrants in US: SGPC urges Centre to intervene
A group of 52 Indians has been held at the detention centre in Oregon state for being part of a large contingent of illegal immigrants seeking asylum
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Thursday urged the Centre to intervene in the matter of alleged inhuman treatment of illegal immigrants, mostly Sikhs, in the United States (US).
A group of 52 Indians has been held at the detention centre in Oregon state for being part of a large contingent of illegal immigrants seeking asylum. The detention centre was recently visited by a group of Democratic lawmakers, who later told the media about the alleged inhuman condition of these detenues.
Taking a serious note of the condition of the illegal immigrants, SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal demanded that the central government take measures to rescue the Indians. “Though they are illegal immigrants, no legal system allows inhuman torture of detenues,” he said.
Longowal said the SGPC will soon approach minister of external affairs Sushma Swaraj to take up the matter with her counterpart in the US. He also appealed to managements of gurdwaras in the US to come forward to help the victims.
“No doubt, many people from India go to western countries, including the US, but they do so for their livelihood. They don’t deserve such a treatment which is entirely inhuman,” said the SGPC president. “Nobody should adopt illegal methods to go abroad to avoid this kind of trouble, ”he added.