‘Please help us’: Indians among 300 deportees detained by US at Panama hotel

Nearly 300 people, including Indians, are being held in a hotel in Panama as they wait to be sent back to their home countries after being deported by the US as part of the Donald Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigrants, the Associated Press reported. The migrants being held are reportedly from 10 Asian countries, including India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and China, according to the report.

Reports said those detained are under police guard and barred from leaving the hotel as the Panama government is waiting for international officials to organise their return to their home countries. Some migrants also held up notes from their windows with messages like “please help us” and “We are not safe in our country,” AP reported.

The deportees, primarily from Asian countries, are in limbo in Panama after the Central American nation agreed to serve as a transit point for migrants whom the Trump administration finds it difficult to deport directly to their countries.

Around 40 percent of the deportees have said they would not voluntarily return to their countries of origin, raising questions about how long they would be detained in the hotel, per the AP report. The situation has fueled sharp criticism of the Panama government, despite its claims, disputed by evidence, that the migrants are not detained.

Security Minister Frank Abrego said on Tuesday that 171  migrants have agreed to return to their countries of origin, although he did not provide a specific timeline. "Today I can tell you that 171 of the (migrants) have accepted to return voluntarily," said Abrego, adding that the others will leave gradually when the U.N. provides them transportation.

In the interim, those migrants will likely be transferred to a shelter near the Darien Gap jungle in southern Panama that connects Central America with South America.

Illegal immigrants from US sent to India

At least three US aircraft with illegal Indian immigrants have landed in India after Donald Trump took over as the US president. According to PTI, three US aircraft, with Indian deportees mostly from Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and some other states, arrived in Amritsar on February 5, February 15 and February 16.

(With inputs from agencies)