‘Donkey route’: Deportee shares video of journey through Panama forest

The family of one of the deportees from the US who landed in Amritsar has shared a video of his arduous journey through the forests of Panama on his way to illegally entering the US through the so-called “donkey route”.

The video shows the 20-year-old Akash camping in the forest along with several other illegal immigrants, and women and children wading through a water body.

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Akash, from Karnal in Haryana, is one of the 104 Indians who were deported from the US on Wednesday (February 5). Akash spent a little more than a week on American soil after jumping over the Mexico border wall to enter the “promised land” on January 26.

Family paid ₹72 lakhs to agents

And get this – his family paid an astounding ₹72 lakhs to agents to take him to America. The family put the money together by selling 2.5 acres of family land, taking loans, and even pledging jewellery.

There are apparently two routes that illegal immigrants take to enter the US from the southern border – one is directly through Mexico, considered to be far less dangerous, if one could call it that.

The other route includes going through several countries and trudging through forests and dangerous terrain and sailing across the seas. This is called the “donkey or dunki route”, and the hapless migrants are transported via planes, boats, container trucks, buses, and various other modes of transport.

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Akash’s family claims that the ₹72 lakh they paid to the agents was meant to ensure him direct passage through Mexico, but the agents instead took him along the longer, more dangerous route.

“No one should go through what we did. The government must take action against these agents,” Akash’s brother Shubham told India Today.

Akash forced to sign deportation papers

Akash reportedly was forced to sign deportation papers in the US. His family said he was told he would face jail time in the US if he didn’t sign the papers.

He said he was initially supposed to be released on bond after a brief period of detention.

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Akash managed to speak to his family on January 26, after he was caught at the US checkpoint.

The donkey route

Recounting the horror faced by 27-year-old Robin Handa, his father Manjit Singh said his son travelled across Guyana, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Guatemala, crossed a sea and passed through jungles, staying hungry for days, to reach the Mexico-US border.

Handa, who studied till class 12, left his native Ismailabad village in Kurukshetra district on July 18 last year and by the time he reached the US border, he had paid ₹45 lakh to different agents while his mobile phone was also snatched, his father claimed.

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He was handed over to the "immigration mafia" in Mexico and they tortured him for money. Here he gave them ₹20 lakh, Singh said.

With the dreams of an improved financial condition in ruins, Singh now blames the travel agent for defrauding them with the false promise of getting Handa settled in the US.

The families of the deportees strongly advised youths not to adopt any illegal means to go abroad.

(With agency inputs)