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NEW DELHI: Indian deportees from the US, who landed in Amritsar on Wednesday, recounted the ordeal of “donkey route“, which is an illegal immigration pathway, used by their travel agents to take them to the United States.
From barely surviving on any food during the journey to witnessing death, Harwinder Singh, a deportee from Punjab shared the nightmare he went thorough to live an American dream.
“We crossed hills. A boat, which was taking him along with other persons, was about to capsize in the sea but we survived,” Singh, who left for the US in August last year said.
He recounted witnessing one person die in the Panama jungle and another drown in the sea during the journey.
“Sometimes we got rice. Sometimes, we did not get anything to eat. We used to get biscuits,” he said.
Another deportee from Punjab spoke of a similar experience, who was taken to the States via Italy and Latin America. “We crossed 17-18 hills. If one slipped, then there would be no chance that he would survive… We have seen a lot. If anybody got injured, he was left to die. We saw dead bodies,” he said.
‘Rs 42 lakh, Rs 30 lakh’: Deportees borrowed money to go to US
While some deportees borrowed money for the expedition, others got theirs stolen on the journey.
Jaspal Singh said that he spent Rs 30 lakh to go to the US “legally”, only to be cheated by his travel agent. “I had asked the agent to send me through a proper visa. But he deceived me,” he said. “A huge sum was spent. The money was borrowed,” he added.
Another deportee claimed that his clothes and money were stolen during the journey. “Our clothes worth Rs 30,000-35,000 were stolen on the way,” he said.
Harwinder Singh said he spent Rs 42 lakhs on the journey.
The US military plane carrying 104 Indian immigrants landed on Wednesday after more than 24-hour journey. Of those, 30 were from Punjab, 33 each from Haryana and Gujarat, three from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, and two from Chandigarh.
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