Duped & Deported: How Agents Trick Hundreds to Migrate to US Via 'Dunki' Routes

Appeal: We, at The Quint, will continue to report on migration, joblessness, labour trafficking and job scams looming over India's youth. Remember when photographs of hundreds of Indians—shackled and flown in US military aircraft—being deported from the US went viral last month. The larger issue is the prevalence of an extensive network of fraudulent travel agents who facilitate illegal immigration to the US, and other countries in Europe and Central Asia, for exorbitant sums of money. Through a sophisticated network operating in India and abroad, they not only seem to have identified international borders with relatively lenient security checks but also loopholes in immigration policies—which they use to their advantage. In turn, they target people desperately trying to emigrate but not having the means to do so, in terms of either education, professional qualification, understanding the process to move abroad or in some cases, even the money needed.