"I saw people dying, stolen their clothes": the deportees share the horror of the 'Burro' route

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Jaspal Singh, who was among 104 deportees brought in a US aircraft on Wednesday, claimed that their hands and legs were cuffed throughout the journey and they were unshackled only after landing at the Amritsar airport.


Singh, 36, who hails from Hardorwal village in Gurdaspur district, said he was captured by the US Border Patrol on January 24.


A US military aircraft carrying 104 illegal immigrants from various states landed here on Wednesday, the first such batch of Indians deported by the Donald Trump government as part of a crackdown against illegal immigrants.


Of them, 33 each were from Haryana and Gujarat, 30 from Punjab, three each from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, and two from Chandigarh, sources said.


Nineteen women and 13 minors, including a four-year-old boy and two girls, aged five and seven, were among the deportees, they said.


Deportees from Punjab were taken to their native places in police vehicles from the Amritsar airport.


After reaching his home town Wednesday night, Jaspal said he was defrauded by a travel agent as he was promised that he would be sent to the US in a legal way.


"I had asked the agent to send me through a proper visa. But he deceived me," said Jaspal. He said that the deal was done at Rs 30 lakh.


Jaspal claimed that he reached Brazil by air in July last year. He said he was promised that the next leg of journey, to the US, would be by air too. However, he was "cheated" by his agent, who forced him to cross the border illegally.


After staying for six months in Brazil, he crossed the border to the US, but was arrested by the US Border Patrol.


He was kept there in custody for 11 days and then sent back home.


Jaspal said he didn't know he was being deported to India.


"We thought we were being taken to another camp. Then a police officer told us that they were being taken to India.


"We were handcuffed and our legs were chained. These were opened at the Amritsar airport," he claimed.


Jaspal said he was shattered with deportation. "A huge sum was spent. The money was borrowed." Earlier, Jaspal's cousin Jasbir Singh said, "We came to know about his deportation through the media on Wednesday morning".


About the deportations, he said, "These are issues of governments. When we go abroad for work, we have big dreams for a better future for our families. Those have now been shattered." Two more deportees, who reached their home towns in Hoshiarpur on Wednesday night, also shared their ordeal they went through to reach the US.


Harwinder Singh, who hails from Tahli village in Hoshiarpur, said he left for the US in August last year.


He was taken to Qatar, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Panama, Nicaragua, and then Mexico.


From Mexico, he along with others were taken to the US, he said.


"We crossed hills. A boat, which was taking him along with other persons, was about to capsize in the sea but we survived," he told reporters.


He said he saw one person dying in the Panama jungle and one drowning in the sea.


Singh said his travel agent had promised him that he would first be taken to Europe and then to Mexico. He said that he spent Rs 42 lakh for his trip to the US.


"Sometimes we got rice. Sometimes, we did not get anything to eat. We used to get biscuits," he said.


Another deportee from Punjab spoke about the 'donkey route' used to take them to the US.


"Our clothes worth Rs 30,000-35,000 were stolen on the way," he said.


The deportee said they were first taken to Italy and then to Latin America.


He said they took a 15-hour-long boat ride and were made to walk 40-45 kms.


"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.


Earlier in the day, the C-17 Globemaster aircraft of the US Air Force landed at the Amritsar airport.


The US action came just days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Washington for wide-ranging talks with President Donald Trump.


The deportees were questioned inside the airport terminal building by different government agencies, including the Punjab Police, and various state and central intelligence agencies to check if they have any criminal record.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by News Agency staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)