The Ministry of External Affairs has told a parliamentary committee that there are currently 10,152 Indian nationals imprisoned in 86 countries. The highest number of them is in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where there are more than 2,000 Indian prisoners in each country. This information has been revealed in the sixth report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs presented in Parliament.
The report said that Saudi Arabia has the highest number of Indian prisoners, where there are more than 2,000 in prisons. This is followed by the UAE, where almost the same number of Indian nationals are serving sentences. Both these countries are major destinations for Indian blue-collar workers in the Gulf region. Apart from this, other Gulf countries like Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar also have a large number of Indians in prisons. Nepal has 1,317 Indian prisoners, while Malaysia has 338. The report also said that 173 Indian nationals are lodged in Chinese jails. The Ministry of External Affairs said that India has agreements with several countries for the transfer of prisoners, including Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, France, Hong Kong, Iran, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, UAE and the UK. However, despite these agreements, only 8 Indian prisoners have been repatriated in the last three years. According to the ministry, the transfer process is time-consuming and requires the consent of the prisoner, the host country and the transferring country. “The Home Ministry is the nodal authority for the transfer of prisoners under this agreement and is currently working on several cases.” The ministry also said that discussions are underway to sign treaties with other countries.
The report said that there are several conditions in the transfer process, such as obtaining the consent of the transferring country, availability of necessary documents, obtaining comments from the concerned state government, identification of a specific prison to house the prisoner and arrangement of escort by the state government for transfer from abroad to India. This leads to delays in the release of prisoners.
Condition of workers in Gulf countries A large number of Indian blue-collar workers work in Gulf countries, who often end up in jail due to violation of strict laws and regulations there. The Ministry of External Affairs said that it is continuously making efforts for the welfare of these prisoners and is in talks with the concerned countries for their release. However, strict privacy laws in many countries hinder sharing of information on prisoners, making it challenging to assess the complete situation.
The report, led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, is based on the topic of “Indian diaspora abroad, including NRIs, PIOs, OCIs and migrant workers”. It also states that out of the 12 countries where the number of Indian prisoners is more than 100, TSP agreements have been signed with 9 countries. However, the impact of these agreements is limited.
The Ministry of External Affairs has taken the matter seriously and said that it gives utmost priority to the safety and well-being of Indian citizens. The ministry also assured that it is negotiating more treaties with other countries to repatriate more prisoners. This report has once again drawn attention to the situation of Indian prisoners abroad and has emphasized the demand for the government to take concrete steps in this direction. The government’s report on Indians imprisoned abroad not only shows a worrying situation, but India has also failed so far to bring back those who have fled India after committing economic crimes. Countless people including Lalit Modi, Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, Vijay Mallya are embroiled in various allegations and have fled abroad.
