After France grounded flight, 30 Gujaratis in Dubai nixed US plans
AHMEDABAD: Last week, France grounded a Dubai-Nicaragua flight carrying 303 Indians, including 96 Gujaratis, over suspected human smuggling. Subsequently, a group of 30 Gujaratis in Dubai had to abandon boarding the next charter jet to Nicaragua, opting to return to India instead.
Illegal immigration agents are believed to be facilitating these chartered flights to assist individuals in crossing into the US once they land in Nicaragua. The detained group of 303 passengers, including the 30 Gujaratis, would likely have reached Managua, Nicaragua’s capital, if the French authorities hadn’t detained them for questioning.
Of the 303 passengers, 276 returned to India on Tuesday. A local source revealed, “The flight that was detained in France had taken off from Dubai on December 21. Another flight, scheduled to operate on December 22, was to carry 30 Gujarati passengers.” The subsequent flight was canceled, prompting the 30 passengers to return to India, flying to different destinations over the past two to three days.
On December 21, France grounded the Nicaragua-bound flight following a tip-off, and on December 24, a court at Vatry airport ordered the release of the passengers, allowing the flight to take off for Mumbai. However, only 276 passengers landed in Mumbai. Two detainees from last week were released by a French court on Monday, while 25 passengers chose to stay back in France, seeking asylum, including unaccompanied minors and a 21-month-old child.
Authorities suspect human smugglers are operating chartered flights to transport passengers with the necessary documentation to Nicaragua, enabling them to cross into the US via the US-Mexico border.
“France grounded a Dubai-Nicaragua flight carrying 303 Indians including 96 Gujaratis over suspected human smuggling last week…a group of 30 Gujaratis in Dubai had to nix boarding the next charter jet to Nicaragua and fly back to India instead.”https://t.co/lHu5VwMvtW
— Veena Dubal (@veenadubal) December 29, 2023
