On return from ‘donkey route’, Hisar youth says better to earn less in India

Recounting his “hell-like” experience in the ‘donkey flight’ for 15 days, Ajay Nain, a 22-year-old resident of Litani village in Hisar, said keeping in view the current unemployment scenario, the youth were falling into the trap of settling abroad to follow their dreams. However, warning them of negative repercussions, he urged them to think twice before taking this route.

Sharing his account with The Tribune, Nain said, “I just have one message for all. It is better to make two ends meet by earning less in India than taking this route. It’s no less than being in hell,” he said.

He said, “It was a 15-day nightmare. I am helping my family in the fields now and looking for a job.” He said he had thought of going to the US after completing his diploma in civil engineering. “With no job here, I was told that I would have a bright future in the US. However, this was a trap,” he said.

Nain, along with four other youths, started his journey on February 3. “It is after 15 days that I returned home. I only ate biscuits, chips and finger chips for two weeks. It was not only a physical torture, but also a psychological one,” he said.

The five youths had taken the route of ‘upper wali donkey’ (by air). It cost each one of them nearly Rs 45 lakh and they had paid Rs 22 lakh in advance to the agent.

“However, my dream was smashed when we reached Brazil via Addis Ababa. We were caught by the immigration authorities as there was a forged sticker on our visa. We were kept in a room without food and water for the entire day. Finally, a police official helped us and we reached Santiago, the capital of Chile,” the 22-year-old youth said.

“Heartbroken, I and another youth from Saharanpur, UP, decided to return home. After a 10-day stay in Santiago, I somehow managed to get a ticket to India,” he said. Ajay said the remaining three finally landed in the US, with one of them landing after three months. “They are upset and want to return to India, but there is no option for them as of now,” he said.

His elder brother, Anil, said the entire family went through a horrible time. “With the mobile Internet shut due to the farmers’ agitation, I had to secure a Wi-Fi connection so that I could stay in touch with my brother,” he said.

His family members managed to get the entire amount back that was paid to the agent after they threatened him that they would report the matter to the police.

Immigration frauds

• A youth belonging to Leelas village in Bhiwani district was duped of ~9 lakh by three persons, who had promised to provide him a work visa to Croatia in February. The complainant, Chander Mohan, lodged a complaint against Pramod, Sitaram and Pawan, stating that they had demanded ~9.1 lakh from him in exchange of work visa, but they later gave him an invalid tourist visa.
• Bhagwan Das, a resident of Taloda village in Jind district, was duped of ~6.8 lakh in an immigration fraud by a Mohali-based private firm. However, when he did not get the visa, he got a criminal case registered with the Jind police.