Mistreatment of Indian citizens by US authorities against International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), condemning the inhumane treatment of Indian citizens deported by the United States of America, has said, both US and Indian governments are bound to uphold human and labour rights. Text of the NAPM statement:
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National Alliance of People’s Movements strongly condemns the inhuman and cruel treatment meted out to Indian Citizens by the new Trump-led US Government. In the history of deportation, this is yet another cruel and shameful low and marks the beginning of another era of racist politics. We equally condemn the meek inaction of the PM Modi-led Indian Govt thus far and demand that the Union Govt must take all necessary measures to safeguard the fundamental human rights and labour rights of its citizens, both domestically and overseas. We demand PM Modi, who is likely to visit the US on the 12th & 13th February, to raise this issue strongly with the US authorities and also ensure that the Govt of India registers a formal protest with the United Nations.
As has been widely reported, on 5th of February, a US military aircraft carrying 104 Indian citizens (including 19 women and 13 minors) landed in Amritsar. While deportation of non-citizens found to be in violation of US Immigration Law is a routine procedure, this time it was different and brazen. Not only is this the first instance of a military aircraft being used to deport Indians from the USA, the inhumane treatment of Indian citizens by US authorities has been unprecedented. All 104, including women and children were handcuffed and even had their legs restrained for the entire 40-hour flight! The US Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks posted a video of Indian citizens walking in handcuffs with shackled feet boarding the US military plane, remarking that this was the “farthest deportation flight yet using military transport.”
The mistreatment of Indians returned on the US military aircraft resulted in opposition MPs raising the issue in Parliament. India’s External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar, acknowledged that the Union government has been in discussion with the USA regarding Indian deportees. However, on the question of use of military aircraft and the mistreatment of Indians being returned, the minister took the defence of ‘officialdom’ claiming the US deportation procedures ‘allow for the use of restraints and that he was assured that women and children were not restrained’. The testimonies of those among the deportees, including of women, paints a different and gory picture. According to them everyone, including women and children, were handcuffed and their legs tied with ropes. One of them described the experience of being chained inside the aircraft as feeling like a “chained animal”.
NAPM unequivocally condemns this degrading mistreatment of Indian migrants during deportation by the U.S. government, which amounts to a violation of their basic human rights and dignity. It must be remembered that even if a citizen of one country violates a law in another country, their basic and inalienable human rights must be respected. NAPM also condemns the Indian government for justifying this sub-human treatment, instead of standing up for its citizens.
The mistreatment of Indian citizens by US authorities, prima facie, is against the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), 1976 and also against the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984). As such, Indian authorities must explore the option of filing a complaint against the USA with the United Nations Human Rights Committee in this case. This is the minimum the Indian government can do to protect the rights of its citizens. At 18 million, India has the largest diaspora population across the world, most of whom comprise low-income migrant workers. As Right-wing parties fuel anti-immigrant xenophobia across major parts of the world, India needs to send an unequivocal message at the global stage that the Indian state stands to protect its citizens’ rights across the world.
The rich countries of the world are facing a shortfall of workers, which is filled by workers from the global south. Most of these jobs are of a precarious and/or low paying nature. Hence, they are not preferred by citizens of the global north. For instance, farm workers in the USA are predominantly migrants as the working conditions are poor and pay is minimal. However, thanks to the crushing unemployment coupled with a decline in welfare provision in countries like India, many of our workers take the risky decision of migrating through irregular channels in order to work in such poor-quality jobs. In this manner, a supply of cheap, pliant labour is ensured which contributes to profits for firms in the global north. It is a stark reminder of our failure to generate safe and dignified jobs in India that poor workers from our country aspire for measly salaries as undocumented workers in richer countries.
All of this is happening in the context of rising inequalities, which is used by right-wing, fascistic parties across the world to drum up an ‘anti-outsider’ sentiment. This is precisely what Trump used in his election campaign to become the US President when he promised to ‘crackdown’ on immigrants. The humiliation meted out to 104 Indian citizens returned on 5th February, is a direct result of such retrograde politics which seeks to pit the working people of different countries against each other. In such a situation, as a country of working people, India must take a clear and principled stance in defence of its citizen workers as well as of all such migrant workers who power the global economy through the hard work and toil, often at the cost of staying away from their families for years on end while enduring subpar treatment in destination countries. Western countries depend on workers from the global south. It is time they start to respect them and treat them with the basic dignity they deserve.
We emphasise yet again, that even in situations where a person may have violated a law in another country, that person’s basic human rights are still protected. In the case of migrant workers who travel through irregular channels, it is well known that these actions are not borne out of malice, but are simply attempts to flee economic distress at home. The Indian state needs to acknowledge its failure in having been unable to provide decent employment to the millions of workers in the country who are forced to make such risky decisions to find jobs overseas. Furthermore, it needs to ensure the protection of its citizens rights overseas.
If the Indian state does not act, it will have submitted to the whims of an authoritarian US administration. It will also signal to the world that the rights of Indians overseas are dispensable and expendable. As such, not only is inaction on the part of the Indian government a neglect of the rights of its 104 citizens, it is also complicity in rendering Indian migrants exposed to abuse and violation of rights in other countries. PM Modi who is likely to visit US on the 12th - 13th Feb must raise this issue strongly with the US authorities.
NAPM strongly criticises the Indian government’s inaction thus far and exhorts it to take all measures necessary to protect the fundamental human rights of its citizens, both domestically and overseas. This entire episode also holds a strong message for hypocritical cheerleaders of fascist regimes in the US or India, that have been pushing discriminatory laws and policies and deepening the ‘fear of the outsider’ and the ‘other’! Citizens in India should be wary of such political forces and their agendas, which is all too eager to write off its own citizens!
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