In what looked like a real life 'Dunki' incident, a charter plane carrying 276 passengers, mostly Indians, which was grounded in France for four days over suspected human trafficking, landed in Mumbai in the wee hours on Tuesday.
According to French authorities, 25 persons, including two minors, had expressed the wish to apply for asylum and were still on French soil. Two others were held and produced before a judge, were released and placed on assisted witness status, a French news channel said.
What Are 'Dunki' Flights
The flight, which was operated by Romanian charter company Legend Airlines and bound for Nicaragua, had landed at Vatry Airport in France on Thursday for a technical stopover en route from Dubai when French police intervened.
Flights to Nicaragua or third countries where obtaining travel documents is easy have come to be known as 'donkey' or 'dunki' flights, which refers to the illegal immigration technique used for unauthorised entry into countries.
Nicaragua has become a hub for those seeking asylum in the US. A news agency PTI report mentioned that as many as 96,917 Indians attempted to enter the US illegally in the financial year 2023, signalling a 51.61 percent jump from the previous year, according to data made available by the US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP).
At least 41,770 of those Indians attempted to enter the US via the Mexican land border, CBP data shows.
Notably, Dunki is a 2023 Indian Hindi comedy-drama film, starring Shah Rukh Khan, based on the illegal immigration technique of donkey flight.
About the Plane Grounded in France
When the flight landed at Vatry airport last week, there were 11 unaccompanied minors among the 303 Indian passengers on board, a local official had said.
Makeshift beds were arranged for the stranded passengers, who were given access to toilets and showers and provided meals and hot drinks in the hall of Vatry airport, the official added.
After the plane had landed at Vatry airport, French authorities launched a judicial investigation into the conditions and purpose of the trip, with a unit specialising in organised crime investigating suspected human trafficking.
Flight Lands in Mumbai Airport After 4-day Hault in France | What About the 25 Who Stayed Back?
After a four-day halt in France, the plane finally left for India on Monday and landed at Mumbai airport in the wee hours of Tuesday. The aircraft, an Airbus A340, landed in Mumbai shortly after 4 am, an official said. It had taken off from Vatry airport near Paris around 2.30 pm local time.
While the flight landed at Mumbai airport on Tuesday with 276 passengers, over two dozen passengers have stayed back and sought asylum in France. The passengers include two minors, as per a PTI report, and their applications reportedly would be processed at the Paris airport.
Meanwhile, the Indian passengers were interrogated by Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officials the charter plane landed in Mumbai, news agency ANI reported.
Who is an Asylum Seeker?
Amnesty International defines an asylum seeker as "a person who has left their country and is seeking protection from persecution and serious human rights violations in another country, but who hasn’t yet been legally recognized as a refugee and is waiting to receive a decision on their asylum claim."
An asylum seeker differes from a refugee as the latter is described as "a person who has fled their own country because they are at risk of serious human rights violations and persecution there."
