In keeping with US President Donald Trump’s policy of tightening borders and enforcing a crackdown on “illegal” emigration, over a hundred Indian nationals who had illegally entered the country were flown back to India on a military transport aircraft.
The emigrants have shared their agonizing tales of their journey across the treacherous” Donkey” way to the US, explaining how their British Dream was shattered at the edges. They were handcuffed and taken off the return trip, putting an end to their aspirations for a fresh life in America.
The journey, a US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III, landed in Amritsar on Wednesday with 104 evacuees aboard. The C-17 aircraft is a US military transport plane, and its cost is significantly higher than the first-class and chartered flights that Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ) typically uses for deportations.
Expensive deportation
The Trump administration began flying defense plane to emphasize its firm position on deporting illegal immigrants. However, these flights may help achieve political objectives, but they can cost up to$ 1 million to be deported to India, according to an AFP report.
Military planes are significantly more expensive than those on civil aircraft. The US Air Mobility Command’s records indicate that operating a C-17 aviation for transportation costs$ 28. 562 per flight hours. In contrast, a charter aircraft used by Snow expenses$ 8, 577 per flight hours.
Various flight way
Military flights follow journey paths that are different from those of business aircraft, in addition to the higher operating costs. This is because of the safety aspects involved in flying through sovereign countries ‘ airport. Military aircraft generally replenish at military installations as opposed to industrial ones.
The journey, which took off from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego at around 1330 GMT on Monday, followed a difficult course. It flew north to Hawaii, crossed the Pacific to the Luzon Strait near the Philippines, therefore flew between Indonesia and Malaysia. Before heading north to India, the plane made a considerable detour north into the Indian Ocean, stopping at the US Air Base on Diego Garcia’s beach before heading north again. After more than 43 time in the air, the trip landed at Peshawar airport.
The total cost of the flight, factoring in the return journey to a US air base, is estimated to be over$ 1 million, or more than$ 10, 000 per detainee. By contrast, a commercial one-way ticket from San Francisco to New Delhi typically costs around$ 500, or$ 4, 000 for business class.
