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The images of illegal immigrant Indians deported from the USA in a C17 Globemaster sure has grabbed headlines for all the wrong reasons. More so because of the shock that it generated for the current lot who had been fed on the hyperbole of nationalist sentiments that our leaders have accepted this so meekishly without even a whimper that it is not palatable to any person who calls themselves an Indian.
With the nationalist pride taking a severe hit, I for sure was looking to pin the blame on someone or something be it the leaders, the Trump administration or the illegal immigrants themselves. During this rumination, I started to think, is there a silver lining to this entire incident? Does this shock have some second order effect that might improve something?
While going through this article in thePrint by Krishan Murari and Sagarika Kissu, I noticed that people and the law are turning the screws on the touts and the “dunki” business. Can this incident in some way lead to a reduction in illegal immigration and probably human trafficking? As per the article, the touts or the agents are just the low-level players in this enormous and dare I say a very efficient and organized system which spans across countries.
Every illegal system thrives if there is patronage be it from the general public or politicians. The optics of this entire incident has at least scared the public who had been willing to take the risk and treacherous routes to get into the USA. In the immediate term the support of the public seems to have vanished which can be seen from the FIRs registered, this would also lead to drying of funds to these organizations thereby some of them going out of business. If the law pursues diligently on the complaints, then the lower rung of the operations can be eliminated. This can also lead to, in some cases, catching the bigger fish which can break the backbone of these organizations.
If our EAM follows up on his statement made in the Rajya Sabha forcefully and also collaborating with other countries which are part of the route in this illegal immigration will help in breaking the network enormously. This will need extensive planning, collaboration and negotiations at the top echelons to make any significant impact. I sincerely hope they do.
As it happens in many cases the organizations involved in illegal immigration might be linked to human trafficking as well. If the law vociferously goes after one the other will also be impacted which might help in tackling a much bigger menace.
According to UNODC’s 2022 Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, South Asia is just next to Sub-Saharan Africa from where most number of people are trafficked to outside the region. Working on this issue will help in solving a major humanitarian issue being faced in the recent times. Human trafficking leads to exploitation and women and children are the worst affected hence any action on this will save numerous lives. The government should work hard to utilize this situation (even though it has bad optics) to make a noteworthy impact on this illegal business. It needs to have a multi-pronged strategy to go after all the touts, their bosses and the organization as a whole with full force of the law to make them unviable and remove this scourge from the face of the country.
It should also help us in solving a major issue being faced by our country for decades, the issue of Bangladeshi immigrants. A crackdown on all the benefactors of illegal immigration throughout the country will inadvertently bring the ones who abet people entering our country illegally as well.
The dark clouds that came along with Trump’s C17 and our sheepish response to it also has a silver lining if our leaders walk the talk and make good use of this unenviable situation. However bad it may look now it will help salvage the reputation and pride of us all Indians as it will lead to a tangible result and help put an end to a lot of ills that has been plaguing our country for long.
These pieces are being published as they have been received – they have not been edited/fact-checked by ThePrint