A man from Dubai who introduced himself as Sabu. This is all that Rakinder Singh of Thakarwal village in Punjab’s Hoshiarpur district knew about the travel agent who took Rs 45 lakh from him and “promised” to take him to the United States “legally”.
Six months after the 41-year-old took the leap of faith and boarded a flight to Dubai, Rakinder is back in Punjab. He was among the 104 deported Indiansincluding 30 from Punjab, aboard the US military aircraft that landed in Amritsar Wednesday.
“Once you start this journey, there is no looking back,” says Rakinder, whose faith in Sabu began to falter as the truth unfolded, bit by bit, during the treacherous journey.
Rakinder never met Sabu, had not seen his picture, or knew his address. He was just a voice on the other side of the phone. As more men joined Rakinder “on the way to the US”, he realised he had been conned. “They were also getting calls from their agents from the same WhatsApp number, but the voice on the other side introduced himself as Raja, Lio and whatnot. He was using different names with different people,” says Rakinder.
“Sabu would only call over WhatsApp. He never put any profile picture on WhatsApp. He spoke Punjabi. As the journey towards the US progressed, he would send men to collect money in instalments from my family in Punjab. He had men in every country we passed. He took the entire sum of Rs 45 lakh before we reached the US-Mexico border,” he adds.
Rakinder, who currently stays in Jalandharspent 12 years working in Australia where he had gone on a student visa. After returning to India in 2020, he thought of going to the US for “a better future” for his three children.
Passports taken away by middlemen in Brazil
Rakinder says he spent all his savings from Australia to accumulate Rs 45 lakh and took some loans from family and friends for the US trip. But once they reached Brazil, their passports were taken away by the agent’s middlemen, and never returned, he says. His journey from Amritsar to the US-Mexico border spanned six months, only to end in deportation.
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“I spent my entire savings on this US trip. I took a flight from Amritsar to Dubai on August 8 last year. After reaching Dubai, we went to South Africa where we landed in Johannesburg. We were then taken to Brazil where we were given asylum for 11 days but later had to live in a hotel. Our passports were taken away in Brazil by the middlemen on the pretext that they needed them to get visas for the US approved. We never got those passports back,” Rakinder told The Indian Express.
Travelling in groups of four, Rakinder says they were joined by at least 500 more men in Brazil who too were promised “legal entry in the US”. Once their passports were taken, the entire journey ahead was via roads, or on foot, as they crossed several countries, including dense Panama jungles, he recounts.
“The agent would seldom speak directly. Mostly his men would call on WhatsApp, sometimes from a Spain number or Dubai. We then crossed Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama jungles, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala before finally reaching Mexico. We crossed the border by jumping over the fence using a ladder. We were held on January 15 and taken to a detention centre in the US,” Rakinder adds.
Rakinder says that the middlemen lied that a ship would take them across Panama jungles. “When we reached, there was no ship. Then they said we have to cross it by walking on foot. We had no other option. There was just a dense jungle, snakes and water around. Chadd ditta jungle vich jhooth bolke (They left us in the jungle by lying),” he says.
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Surviving on some bread and dry foods he had carried along, Rakinder says, “In the jungle, we would walk in the day and sleep in tents during the night but there was always a sense of fear. Our phones had stopped working. The agent said a ship would be waiting for us but it never came.”
“The agent’s men would give us some food every few days but we would be hungry for 2-3 consecutive days. All that we used to get was a handful of rice and rajma. We crossed 14 countries surviving on minimal food. I did all this only for my three children for whom I wanted a better life,” says Rakinder.
“At the detention centre in the US, there were 32 rooms, each having 50-60 occupants from several countries such as Peru, Pakistan, Nepal etc. When we tried to call the agent, his phone was switched off. He never contacted us again. Now even as I want to file a police complaint against him, I have no proof of his real identity – name, address, photo – nothing. Even his middlemen never revealed their identities to us,” says Rakinder.
“When we reached Guatemala, we were taken hostage by the agent’s middlemen who told us that we would not be allowed to cross the border till we paid the pending payment. My family then arranged the last instalment of Rs 20 lakh and gave it to his men in Punjab. We never got any receipts for the money paid. Another man from Amritsar was kept hostage in Ecuador till his family paid Rs 7 lakh,” he adds.
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‘Had hot, Indian food after six months; felt like home’
“Yesterday when we landed at Amritsar airport, I had hot, Indian food after six months. I cried and it felt like home,” says Rakinder. “Though our hands and feet were tied in the plane, the US Army did not ill-treat us in any way. They were polite. There was no misbehaviour,” says Rakinder. “I would advise every Punjabi to never try this illegal way. Now I do not even have my passport and have no idea what lies ahead,” he adds.
