NEW DELHI: Indian deportees being shackled on a long US flight has riled the opposition parties, but External Affairs Minister S.

Jaishankar stated on Thursday that the use of `restraints` was standard US policy and defended the use of military aircraft, despite other major South American countries like Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia only accepting non-military repatriation flights.

According to The Wire, in a suo motu statement in the Rajya Sabha, Mr. Jaishankar explained that the `standard operating procedure for deportation by aircraft used by ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], effective from 2012, provides for the use of restraints.` He clarified that this ICE policy does not apply to women and children.

He further stated that the `needs of deportees, including food, other necessities,and potential medical emergencies, are attended to during transit.` He also mentioned that `deportees are temporarily unrestrained during toilet breaks if necessary.

His statement came amid accounts from Indian deportees describing how their hands and legs were chained, while the head of the US borderprotection agency posted a video showing shackled Indians shuffling into the belly of a C-17 Globemaster aircraft. The United States deported 104 Indians on the military flight, its first such operation outside the American hemisphere.

During their interventions, Opposition members raised questions about whether the government had prior information about the deportations, whether the Indians who were deported had consular access, and how the government plans to address the issue of illegal immigration including the unemployment crisis in the country that is forcing people to undertake such a riskyexercise.

`Does the government know that there are 7,25,000 such Indian citizens in the US who are being readied to be deported? How many more Indians have been kept in detention centres in such inhuman conditions and have they been given consular access?` asked Congress MP Randeep Singh Surjewala. `Does the `Abki bar Trump Sarkar` that spent 100 crores on Namaste Trump think that these 7,25,000 Indians went to the US because the 2 crore jobs per year that was promised to them was not delivered? When a small country like Columbia can tell the US to behave humanely with their citizens then why not the Indian government?` he added.

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP Tiruchi N. Siva said that while the members accepted that deportations are an ongoing process, `the way they have been sentisnotin a proper manner.` `I would like to know whether theIndian embassy was contacted and given the information that this number of people are going to be deported. And in that case what was the reaction? What steps has our government taken if they were informed about the deportations? How many women and children were there and after they reached India, has the government reached out to them to address their concerns?` Siva asked.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Saket Gokhale said that the minister`s statement was `baffling` as he seemed `more interested in defending the US deportation policies than the interest of our own citizens.

`From the year 2016, the number of deportations have doubled,` he said, adding that the US deportations are only a part of it, Indians are still being forced to serve the Russian army in its war in Ukraine.

`We are being told by the Treasury benches that India is the fifth largest economy and will become the thirdlargest soon. As the Vishwaguru, our citizens being chained, their legs being shackled, when countries like Columbia which don`t even figure in the top ten can send an aircraft and bring their citizens back with dignity, what stops our government from sending one aircraft?` he asked.

`Clearly there is economic distress, they are running away from the country for better economic opportunities, how is the ministry ensuring that so many Indians don`t have to risk their lives to run away from a failing economy?` Gokhale added.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh said that while the Indians were brought back under inhuman conditions, they were not given dignity even on Indian soil. `They were taken in prisoner vans in Haryana in their own country. Forget what the US has done you are defending that. They were brought in prisoner vans on our own soil. Smaller countries aresending aircraft to bring back their citizens. Will the Indian government also do this in future?` he asked.

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Kumar Jha sought to know if the Indian embassy provided any legal advice to those who were deported and how it plans to crackdown on illegal immigration agencies. `What is the government doing about the agencies who are openly saying they will make you reach your favoured country? They can be illegal and infiltrators abroad but they are our citizens, how does this deportation align with India`s broader policy of protecting its citizens abroad? Will the Indian government raise this inhuman aspect of this at a multilateral or bilateral platform?` he asked.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) MP John Brittas said that while the minister had listed deportations, there was a lack of data on the number of illegal immigrants abroad.