Saturday, December 23, 2023

Anywhere will do.

"A plane carrying 303 Indian passengers has been grounded at an airport in north-eastern France on suspicion of human trafficking, French media report. The Airbus A340 was flying from the United Arab Emirates to the Nicaraguan capital Managua. It was grounded during a technical stopover at the small Vatry airport in Marne department...after an 'anonymous tip-off', prosecutors say." BBC. Police have sealed off the airport. "Eleven unaccompanied minors were among the 303 passengers on a plane grounded in France." Reuters. Nicaragua is the largest country in Central America with a population estimated at 6.4 million and nominal GDP estimated at $17.4 billion (wikipedia), ruled by a brutal communist dictator Daniel Ortega who is a friend of another dictator Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela (Britannica). "Diplomatic relations between India and Nicaragua were established in March 1983." Total bilateral trade was $69.12 million in 2019-20, exports from India were $3.60 million and imports were $65.52 million. MEA. 39 non-resident Indians (NRIs), 1 person of Indian origin (PIO) and 40 Overseas Indians, for a total of 80, live in Nicaragua. MEA. It is, therefore, extremely strange that 303 Indian citizens are flying to Nicaragua in the same flight. "Indians constitute the third-largest group of illegal immigrants in the US. There are over 725,000 Indians living illegally in the US, according to a recent study by Pew Research Center." They are taken through tortuous routes, known as 'Donkey routes', walking through miles of jungles, by people smugglers known as 'Donkers'. It costs Rs 1.5 million to be smuggled into Portugal, Rs 2.5 million for Germany and Rs 4.5 million for the US. India Today. Why pay huge sums of money and risk their lives for jobs as almost slave labor in countries where they do not know the language when "India is a mother of democracy and a model of diversity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on the occasion of India's 77th Independence Day, with two lawmakers from the United States in the audience," (DH) and that "We are fortunate to live in the 'Amrit Kaal' (age of eternal life) of independence," PM Modi said. DH. Even a dirt-poor country like Sudan seems preferable to India. "I was born poor, but I didn't want to die poor. I wanted to provide a better life for my children, which is why I came to Sudan," said Prabhu. India Weekly. Although a total of 60% of seats in government jobs and in higher education are reserved for lower castes (Legal Service India), thousands of Dalits still live lives of utter misery (BBC). Ten of the 303 passengers on the grounded plane have applied for asylum in France. India Today. Clever. If not the US, anywhere will do. But, please God, not India. Not even for Amrit (divine nectar).   

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