New Delhi: As many as 8,330 Indians are languishing in jails around the world with majority of them being in prisons of the Arab states, and also over 300 in Pakistan, accroding to the data shared by the Ministry of External Affairs in the Rajya Sabha.
“As per the information available with the ministry, the number of Indian prisoners, including under-trials, in foreign prisons at present is 8,330. However, due to strong privacy laws prevailing in many countries, the local authorities do not share information on prisoners unless the person concerned consents to the disclosure of such information", Minister of State V Muraleedharan said in response to a question asked by CPI MP Binoy Viswam.
“The issue of release and repatriation of Indian nationals in foreign prisons is regularly pursued by Indian Missions and Posts abroad with the local authorities concerned. Missions/Posts abroad also approach the law enforcement agencies to complete the investigation and judicial proceedings at the earliest possible,” he said.
According to the data provided by the Ministry of External Affairs, United Arab Emirates (UAE) has the highest number of Indians in jail at 1,611, followed by Saudi Arabia with 1,461 Indians, Qatar with 696, Kuwait with 446, Bahrain with 277 and Oman with 139.
"There are a total of 4,630 Indians lodged in prisons in these Gulf countries", Muraleedharan told the Indian Parliament's Upper House.
Among other Asian countries, Nepal has the highest number of Indians in its prisons with 1,222. This is followed by Malaysia with 341, Pakistan with 308, 178 in China, 157 in Iran, Bangladesh has 60 and Sri Lanka has 20 Indian prisoners, the Ministry said.
A total of 249 Indians are in prisons of the United Kingdom (UK) whereas 294 Indians are in USA jails.
Muraleedharan informed that India has signed Agreement on Transfer of Sentenced Persons with 31 countries by virtue of which Indian prisoners lodged in foreign countries can be transferred to India to serve the remainder of their sentence and vice-versa.
"The 31 countries with which India has signed the agreements are Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Egypt, Estonia, France, Hong Kong, Iran, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kuwait, Maldives, Mauritius, Mongolia, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates (UAE), United Kingdom and Vietnam", he said.
"No new agreements have been signed by India since 2018", he added.
India has also signed two multilateral conventions on transfer of sentenced persons, namely Inter-American Convention on Serving Criminal Sentences Abroad and Council of Europe Convention on Transfer of Sentenced Persons.
"By virtue of this sentenced persons of member States and other countries which have acceded to these conventions can seek transfer to their native countries to serve the remainder of their sentence", the Minister said.
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