Have been told up to 487 presumed Indian citizens with final removal orders, says MEA

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in a special briefing on Friday ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s overseas visit, responded to queries regarding the potential returnees from the US. During the briefing, queries were asked about the number of Indians who would return from the US under the deportations taking place.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said that the number of flights and returnees will depend on the number of confirmed people. “It’s hard to give an exact number because we can’t confirm anybody as an Indian national until we check that”, Misri said.

“In recent conversations, when we have sought details about potential returnees from the United States, we have been told that there are up to 487 presumed Indian citizens with final removal orders with the US authorities. We have sought details with regard to 298 individuals. We received this a short while ago. We are checking on this and will revert to our US counterparts on these issues. About the others we have not been provided details”, he added.

Watch: Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri says, “First of all, the statement given by the External Affairs Minister in the House yesterday has been seen by all of you. I cannot add anything further to it. However, as far as I understand, there are three to four key points that you… pic.twitter.com/FBTdpN051o

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The Foreign Secretary also noted, “We have been very transparent on this with US counterparts”. External Affairs Minister Jaishankar on Thursday said that the deportation of Indian nationals from the United States is “not a new issue” and the government is engaging with the US to ensure that returning deportees are not mistreated in any manner during the flight.

In his statement on the US deportation of Indian nationals in the Lok Sabha, Jaishankar said that deportations by the US are organized and executed by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the standard operating procedure for deportation by aircraft used by ICE has been effective since 2012. He said that there has been no change from past procedures for the flight undertaken by the US on February 5. (ANI)