New Delhi, Feb 6 : Calling for a focus on a strong crackdown against the illegal immigration industry, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Thursday reiterated the universal obligation for countries to repatriate their nationals found living abroad illegally.

In a statement in response to an adjournment motion given by the Congress in Lok Sabha, the Minister shared figures of the UPA era to explain that illegal immigrants have been sent back by the US in the past as well.

Providing figures to illustrate the ongoing nature of the process, EAM Jaishankar shared: "In 2009, the number of deportees was 734, in 2010 it was 799, in 2011 it was 597, in 2012 it was 530, in 2013 it was 515, in 2014 it was 591 and in 2015 it was 708."

He continued with the figures: "In 2016 it was 1,303, in 2017 it was 1,024, in 2018 it was 1,180, in 2019 it was 2,042, in 2020 it was 1,889, in 2021 it was 805, in 2022 it was 862, in 2023 it was 617, in 2024 it was 1,368, and in 2025 it is 104."

The Minister highlighted the ongoing engagement with the US government to ensure the humane treatment of deportees during transit.

The remarks followed the arrival of a US military C-17 aircraft at Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport in Amritsar, Punjab, carrying the first batch of 104 illegal Indian immigrants, with the highest numbers coming from Haryana and Gujarat (33 each).

Earlier, dozens of Indian Youth Congress (IYC) activists were detained by Delhi Police as they protested near Parliament against the alleged handcuffing of some of the 104 Indians deported from the US.

The protesters shouted slogans against the government for silently allowing such ill-treatment of the deportees and broke barricades before being detained.

IYC President Uday Bhanu said in a post on X: 'Handcuffs and shackles have been put on not just a few youths but 140 crore Indians. As a country, India was never so weak nor had anyone ever imagined it.'

'Today the country is ashamed, every Indian is angry, but the Prime Minister is silent as always!' said the IYC on X.

'Such an insult to India, we will not tolerate it... The same Trump for whom Modi ji had spent Rs 100 crore to say 'Namaste Trump', sent the Indians back in handcuffs and chains,' said the IYC.

Congress MP Priyanka Vadra also trained her guns on the government for its failure to send an Indian plane to bring back the deportees. 'Do we treat people like this and keep people chained or hand-cuffed,' she said in a video posted by the IYC on its social media handle.

/IANS