SAD’s Bathinda MP and the Union Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Badal on Friday urged Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to take up the issue of identifying Punjabis detained in the Oregon detention centre in the United States. She also sought her intervention from her US counterparts to ensure that they received consular as well as legal access.
“According to media reports, 52 Indians had been detained in the Oregon facility but there was no report on their identity. Punjab Government had also not been able to identify Punjabis detained at Oregon as no effort had been made to establish a control room and reach out to the affected families,” she said.
Harsimrat said in such a situation, Sushma could ask the relevant Indian Consulate to seek details of the Punjabis at Oregon.
She said the reports emanating from the US indicated the detainees were not being allowed any access to lawyers. She requested Sushma to make out a case for the same with her US counterparts besides requesting the American authorities not to deport any of the detainees without giving them ample opportunity to make relevant appeals.
The Union Minister said the reports from Oregon also stated the Indian detainees were being held in sub-human conditions. “It was reported that the inmates of the detention centre were shackled and were kept in cells close to open toilets,” she said. She urged Sushma to intervene in matter and ensure the Oregon facility complied with civil detention standards in force in the United States.