‘2,008 cases of illegal migration registered’

Emphasising that strict action will be taken against travel agents who send youth abroad illegally, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mahipal Dhanda said 2,008 cases of illegal migration were registered by the SIT and 1,917 people were arrested in the last five years.

He said the state government had prepared the Haryana Travel Agents Registration and Regulation Bill, 2025, to rein in the agents and it would come in the House during the session.

Dhanda was responding to a calling attention motion brought by members of the House during the Budget session of the Haryana Legislative Assembly today regarding the fraud being committed in the name of sending people abroad illegally.

He said it was a fact that in Haryana, there had been an increase in the incidents of migration to other countries in recent years. Along with legal migration, incidents of illegal migration through ‘Donkey Route’, were also coming to light.

“People who are unaware of immigration laws or are eager to go out of their homes are more likely to be exploited,” he said.

He said the Haryana Government had taken several concrete steps in this regard and had constituted SIT in May 2020. The SIT has issued helpline number 80530-03400 for complaints related to illegal immigration.

Dhanda said the state government had prepared the Haryana Travel Agents Registration and Regulation Bill, 2025, which aimed to ensure accountability of travel agents. He informed that 332 deported Indians were repatriated by the US in February 2025 through three flights. In the first flight on February 5, 33 were from Haryana. In the second flight, on February 15, 34 were from Haryana and 44 were from the state in the third flight.