Jumping fences, crossing jungles: How migrants use ‘dunki routes’ to reach US

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor described the manner of deportation as “an insult to India” and “the dignity of Indians.” External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also addressed the issue in the Rajya Sabha, saying, “We are engaging the US Government to ensure that the returning deportees are not mistreated in any manner during the flight. At the same time, the House will appreciate that our focus should be to crack down strongly on the illegal migration industry…”

Earlier popular in Punjab and Haryana, these “dunki routes” for reaching the US are now finding takers in Gujarat, too. Of the people who landed in India on Wednesday, 33 were from Gujarat and Haryana each and 30 from Punjab. Travelling to countries like the US without valid documents is often done with the help of “agents” and the journeys involve significant risk and danger. Here is what to know.

Reaching US, via South America

The first step in the most popular dunki route from India is to reach a Latin American country. Countries like Ecuador, Bolivia, and Guyana have visas on arrival for Indian citizens. Some other countries, including Brazil and Venezuela, give tourist visas to Indians easily. A migrant’s route also depends on which countries his agent has ‘links’ in — links to human trafficking networks.

Reaching Latin American countries, thus, is not tough. However, it can take months. One woman named Lovepreet Kaur, who was aboard the US military plane, said she travelled with her 10-year-old son. “We were flown to Medellin in Colombia and kept there for nearly two weeks before being moved to San Salvador (capital of El Salvador) in a flight. From there, we walked for over three hours to Guatemala, then travelled by taxis to the Mexican border. After staying in Mexico for two days, we finally crossed over to the US on January 27,” she told The Indian Express.

Some agents arrange a direct visa for Mexico from Dubai. However, landing directly in Mexico is considered more dangerous, in terms of arrest by local authorities. The nearer a country is to the US border, the more difficult it is to get a visa from India. Most agents land their clients in a Latin American country and then take them to Colombia.

Perilous journey to the north

From Colombia, the migrants enter Panama. This involves crossing the Darién Gap, a dangerous forest between the two countries, with risks of wild animals and criminal gangs. Migrants can face robbery and even rape in this region — crimes committed here go unreported and unpunished. If everything goes well, the journey takes eight to ten days. If a migrant dies, there is no way to send the body home for last rites.

Agents charge between Rs 30-40 lakh to Rs 1 crore per person and usually take the sum before the migrants reach the US. Rakinder Singh, one of the deportees, told The Indian Express, “The agent would seldom speak directly. Mostly his men would call on WhatsApp, sometimes from a Spain number or Dubai.”

He said they 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,” he added. Middlemen also lied to them, saying a ship would take them across Panama’s jungles but they had to cross the jungle on foot.

Guatemala is a big coordination centre on this route. Migrants are handed over to new traffickers here, to enter Mexico and continue the journey towards the US border. Now starts the game of hide and seek with government agencies. Gurdaspur youth Gurpal Singh (26) was killed in a bus accident in Mexico while on the way to the US as an illegal immigrant in 2023. In his last call to his sister back in Punjab, he told her they had been stopped by the Mexican police, and had taken the bus hurriedly to escape.

Possible to avoid the forest, not the risks

Another route from Colombia starts from San Andrés to avoid the forest in Panama. But it is not much safer. From San Andrés, migrants take boats to Nicaragua, a country in Central America. Fishing boats with illegal migrants go to Fisherman’s Cay, around 150 km from San Andrés. From there, migrants are transferred onto another boat to Mexico.

The 3,140-km border separating the United States and Mexico has fencing, which the migrants jump across. Many choose to cross the dangerous Rio Grande river. However, the US authorities do not pose much of a challenge while crossing the border. It is after crossing over that migrants are detained and then kept in camps. Now, their fate depends on whether US authorities find them fit for asylum.

Another route takes migrants to Europe, and from there, directly to Mexico. “It all depends upon the agents’ contacts. It is easier to go through Europe. However, the day the Europe-Mexico route comes under the lens, people will fall back on the traditional route,” said a migrant who crossed nine countries on the dunki route to reach the US.

This explainer contains portions from a story first published in 2023. 

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