More Than 8000 Indian Prisoners Are in Foreign Prisons. More Than 55% of them are in Middle Eastern Countries. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, this is the highest number of Indians held as prisoners in foreign jails since 2007.
UAE accounted for 23% of the Indians held as prisoners in foreign jails. The next highest is in Saudi Arabia, where 1,362 Indians i.e., 16% of the total are held in prisons. India’s neighboring country of Nepal currently accounts for the third-highest number of Indians in foreign jails. In the top 10 countries currently holding Indians as prisoners are other Middle Eastern countries of Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain. Malaysia also has a sizable number of Indians as prisoners. reportsrecords.com
As per the response provided in Lok Sabha in 2007, there were 6277 Indians as prisoners in foreign jails. 8,437 Indians are languishing in foreign jails as of 24 March 2023.
As per the data available in the earlier years, Saudi Arabia and UAE were among the countries with the highest number of Indians as prisoners, though there have been some changes in their position. Meanwhile, there are significant changes in the number of prisoners held by a few other countries over the years. This is especially true in the case of neighboring countries of Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Illegal Stay, fraud, and Illegal activities are among the reason
There are various reasons why Indians were held in foreign jails. However, no information is provided on the number of persons in custody for a particular crime, which does not provide scope to ascertain the main reasons.
In the case of UAE, which even in 2019 has among the highest number of Indians as prisoners, the reasons include – Murder, Drugs, Alcohol, Cheque bounce, financial fraud, etc. Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries also have similar reasons for which Indians were arrested.
In the case of neighboring countries of Pakistan and Bangladesh, the case of illegal entry along with illegal trafficking is the main reason. Drugs and smuggling activities are among the main reasons in Nepal & Bangladesh.
