CHANDIGARH: The families of illegal Indian immigrants deported back on Wednesday had taken loans and sold their lands or homes to send their wards to the United States, and they are now worried about how to repay the vast amounts.They had raised anywhere between Rs 40-60 lakh to pay agents for sending the youths abroad through the ‘donkey route’, a move that has backfired. They want the government to help them out financially.One of the deported youths, Gurpreet Singh, who belongs to Tarf Behbal village in Kapurthala district, had gone to the US only six months ago. His family says they only learned on Wednesday that he was being sent back.“We have now lost our house, as we took a loan of Rs 45 lakh from relatives, friends and others to send him. Now, we can only survive if the government helps us. Else, it is all over,” said a family member.Akashdeep Singh from Rajatal in Amritsar had been out of contact with his family for the last fortnight. His father came to know why, when the police informed him of his return. The family spent Rs 60 lakh to send him to the US. But he is happy that at least his son returned safely.It is the same story with Jaswinder Singh of Ahanpura village in Fategarh Sahib. His son reached the US on January 15 this year after they raised Rs 50 lakh through a loan.“He left India around the Dussehra festival last year. He was asking for money from me. I arranged it by taking loans on interest from jewellers and relatives. I do not know how he went. We sent him abroad because he did not find any work here. We thought he would earn and improve our lot. But we did not know this would happen,” said a family member. One of the deported women is Sukhjit Kaur. Her father, though, is in Italy. Her family has a similar tale of woe.Punjab minister seeks PM Modi’s intervention in deportation of Indians from US, urges him to find a solution Spending Rs 42 lakh, the family of Harwinder Singh of Tahli village in Hoshiarpur district had sent him to the US about 10 months ago. His wife lamented, “When my husband returns home, I will ask him how he got caught and how he was treated. The agent had told us he would send my husband legally, but instead, he sent him through the ‘donkey route’. When my husband reached the US, his condition was terrible.”She took loans to give him the money. She has at home two children, her husband’s father and younger brother. The family has to survive on income from a small piece of land and a small dairy. “Our financial condition is terrible,” she added. His father hopes the government will help them.Over 100 illegal Indian migrants deported from US via military aircraft land in AmritsarRegarding Pardeep of Jarout village in SAS Nagar district, the family spent Rs 41 lakh on him by selling half an acre of their land and taking a loan. His mother said, “Now the family is tense. What should we do? He returned to the US six months ago and is home now. We used to ask the agent about him, and he used to tell us that Pardeep was doing fine. We used to talk to Pardeep, and he also told us he was fine.” The mother demands that he should get a government job.Punjab NRI Affairs Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said that he spoke to the deportees, and most of them told him that they were sent to the US by Dubai-based travel agents, the agreements struck over the phone. “The youth from here went to Dubai and were sent to the US via different countries, including the UK. A few of them even had Canadian visas,” he added.According to sources, the deportees reportedly said during initial questioning that they had used different agents and stayed at multiple locations before being caught.
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