25 of 303 detained in France refused to fly back to India

New Delhi, December 26

As many as 276 persons who were on a plane that was detained in France on the suspicion of human trafficking arrived in Mumbai at dawn on Tuesday.

Editorial: Nicaragua flight row

A total of 303 passengers had boarded a chartered plane last week in Fujairah airport in the United Arab Emirates for a flight to Managua, Nicaragua. French authorities had detained the plane last Thursday on an anonymous tip-off when it stopped for refuelling. At least 27 people did not take the flight back home. While a dozen applied for political asylum, another dozen wanted to continue the journey to Nicaragua. The two who were detained for questioning have been released, but are in France. Five of those who decided not to return were minors. It is suspected that the Indians were workers in the UAE and they decided to take a chance to illegally enter by taking a chartered flight to Nicaragua from where they could have made their way to the US or Canada.

Images showed the passengers arriving from the flight at Mumbai airport carrying backpacks or small suitcases. They were then taken to a hall to fill out forms and are then likely to be questioned.