The majority of the passengers stranded in the aircraft that was grounded in France on suspicion of human trafficking returned to India on Tuesday morning but there was no official word from the government till late in the evening on why they had been held for four days by the French authorities or why they were bound for Nicaragua.
The passengers, according to local media reports, left the Mumbai airport without engaging with the media and most preferred to keep their faces covered; adding to the mystery that surrounds the grounding of the aircraft in the Châlons Vatry Airport that serves the Châlons-en-Champagne and the Grand Est region in northeastern France.
Although the Indian Embassy in Paris was involved in this entire episode from Thursday — when the Legend Airlines aircraft was grounded in Vatry with 303 passengers — by providing them consular access and ensuring that the majority left France, there was no attempt by the Modi government to draw mileage. Twenty-five passengers including five minors sought asylum in France and had been allowed to stay back in the country by the French authorities.
The French newspaper, Le Monde, quoted the Marne prefecture authorities as saying that their request for asylum will be "analysed at Charles-de-Gaulle airport’’ and they “will benefit from an interview with OFPRA (French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons)”.
The Legend Airways aircraft had left Dubai and was bound for Nicaragua when it took a technical halt at Vatry airport on Thursday. French media reported that it was grounded on a tip-off that the aircraft was involved in human trafficking. Because of its liberal immigration policy, Nicaragua has become a springboard for migration into the US via Mexico and the post-Trump years have seen a surge through this route.
Al Jazeera, quoting the Mexican immigration agency, said: "The influx of Indian migrants through Mexico has increased from fewer than 3,000 in 2022 to more than 11,000 from January to November this year… Indian citizens were arrested 41,770 times entering the US illegally from Mexico in the US government’s budget year that ended September 30, more than double from 18,308 the previous year.’’
Europe too has seen a surge in applications from Indians for asylum, most of which get rejected. Indians figured in the top 30 citizenships of first-time asylum seekers to the European Union in 2021 and 2022; ranking 10th. "The most substantial increases in relative terms were recorded for citizens of India (+605.6 %)…,’’ Eurostat — the statistical office of the EU — noted.