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Women and children, who were among 228 illegal Indians migrants deported from the United States in two batches last week, were not restrained during the flights, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Friday.
The remarks came as visuals of the first batch of deportees, who arrived in India on February 5, being shackled throughout the journey triggered a massive political storm in India, and even led to an uproar in both Houses of Parliament during the then ongoing Budget session.
"The flights that arrived in India on February 15 and 16, we had shared our concerns with the US government that the people coming be brought back in a humane manner and their religious sensitivities be kept in mind. As per our understanding, on the flights that came on 15th and 16th in Amritsar, women and children were not subjected to any kind of shackling," MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a weekly briefing.
Earlier, sources had told PTI that women and children deportees were not "restrained" during the second flight, even as the men alleged they were in shackles throughout the journey.
The Indians are being deported from the US as part of the Donald Trump administration's crackdown and decision to deport illegal immigrants. They have been brought back on a C-17 Globemaster aircraft of the US Air Force so far.
In the first round of deportation on February 5, a US military plane transported 104 Indians to Amritsar. Similarly, another plane with 116 Indians arrived 10 days later on February 15. The third batch of 112 Indians landed a day later.
As visuals of the first batch of deportees in shackles went viral and created a furore across the country, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the Centre is engaging with the US to ensure the deportees are not mistreated. He also said the US' deportation of illegal migrants is not a new development and has been going on for years.
Meanwhile, Mr Jaiswal also briefed reporters on the deportation of a group of Indians to Panama from the US. The group is part of a larger group of 299 migrants sent to the region.
"We have seen some reports of deportation flights to Panama and Costa Rica. It is our understanding that these have been undertaken as per a bridge arrangement between the US and the respective governments. Both Costa Rica and Panama have agreed to serve as transit countries for the deportees while the US bears all the cost of the operations. We have some Indian nationals, I understand, and our mission in Panama and Costa Rica is in touch with local authorities," he said.
In the case of Panama, the Union government is verifying details like whether those deported to the region comprise Indians or not, the spokesperson said. "Once that verification details are complete, then arrangements will be made for the return of these Indian nationals back home," he said.
"In case of Costa Rica, we have heard through the media (that some Indians have been sent back from the US), we are officially yet to hear from Costa Rica," he added.
Earlier, deportees who returned alleged that it was too dangerous to pass through the Panama jungles. "We somehow managed to save ourselves from snakes, crocodiles and other animals," Lovepreet, who hails from Gurdaspur district, said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was in the US last week, said India will take back any of its citizens living illegally in the US. He, however, emphasised that efforts need to be made to end human trafficking.
"Our bigger fight is against that entire ecosystem, and we are confident that President Trump will fully cooperate with India in finishing this ecosystem," he said.
In its defense, the US Embassy in India said "enforcing our nation's immigration laws is critically important to the national security and public safety of the United States". "It is the policy of the United States to faithfully execute the immigration laws against all inadmissible and removable aliens," an embassy spokesperson said.
India is the third source of undocumented immigrants in the US after Mexico and El Salvador.
Most of the deportees belonging to Punjab earlier said they wanted to migrate to the US for a better life for their families. However, their dreams were shattered when they were caught on the US border and sent back in shackles.