By Sahil Pandey
New Delhi [India], March 27 : Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh on Thursday revealed that since January 20, the US has deported 55 Indian nationals who arrived in India via Panama.
Singh also mentioned that no Indian national has been deported by the US to any other country besides Panama.
"Beginning 20 January 2025, the US deported a total of 55 Indian nationals who arrived in New Delhi via Panama. These individuals were deported to Panama by the US under a bilateral arrangement. Panama, in turn, facilitated the deportation of these individuals to New Delhi on commercial flights with the assistance of the International Organization of Migration (IOM)," Singh said in a written reply to an unstarred question in parliament.
Adding further, MoS MEA highlighted that the Ministry of External Affairs remains engaged with the US in ensuring the safe return of all individuals who have been verified as Indian nationals.
Meanwhile, as per a CNN report on February 6, at least 104 Indian citizens were deported from the US on the night of February 4 on a military aircraft, according to officials from Punjab, as US President Donald Trump made stemming immigration a top priority.
The C-17 aircraft, carrying migrants mainly from India's Gujarat, Maharashtra and Punjab states, landed on February 5 in Amritsar, Punjab officials said. It was the longest-distance flight since the Trump administration began deploying military aircraft for migrant transportation, according to a US official.
US President Donald Trump on February 23 while addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), referred to mass deportations and said that he was restoring government "by the people."
For days, migrants deported from the US were detained in a hotel and held in a remote camp in Panama, surrounded by tight security with limited contact with the outside world, CNN reported.
Nearly 300 migrants from Asia, all deported by the US, were held there by Panamanian authorities who agreed to take them in and eventually repatriate them. It's part of the Trump administration's mass deportation campaign, which has pressured Latin American nations to help, as per CNN.