Real Story of Dunki | How Indians Cross US Mexico Border? | Donkey Process _ Dhruv Rathee
In this video by Dhruv Rathee, the focus is on the heart-wrenching story of illegal immigration from India, specifically the tragic journey of a family from the small village of Dingucha, Gujarat. The video delves into the realities of "donkey flights," a term for illegal immigration routes, and the dangerous journeys families undertake for a better life in countries like the USA ,UK and Canada. It also explores the broader context of why people risk everything, including political and economic factors, and the role of misleading agents in this perilous process. Donkey Process of illegal immigration has also inspired the story of the movie "Dunki" starring Shah Rukh Khan. Watch as Dhruv Rathee sheds light on this critical issue, blending personal stories with broader social and political insights.
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00:00Namaskar friends, about 13 km away from the capital of Gujarat, Gandhinagar, there is a village called Dingucha.
00:06Although the population of this village is around 3000 people, more than half of the houses are locked here.
00:13It is said that about 1800 villagers no longer live in Dingucha.
00:18These people not only left their village, but also left the country.
00:22People did not get a job. If it is good here, it will be good abroad.
00:26If I don't go to America, my child's life is not here.
00:30Even today, there are such posters everywhere in Dingucha.
00:33Study in UK, Canada.
00:35Pre-application. Offer letter in 3 days.
00:38If you see the most number of ads for anything in this village, it is to get a US and Canada visa.
00:44In many ads, it is written directly that you will get a visa without any exam.
00:49It is January 2022.
00:51Seeing the rest of the people going to America in his village, a family of Dingucha decided to do the same.
00:5729-year-old Jagdish Patel takes a flight to Canada with his wife and two children.
01:02He used to work as a teacher in his village before and later he used to help in his brother's garment business.
01:08But his income, the monthly income of the entire family could only be 9,000 to 10,000 rupees.
01:13Obviously, due to a lack of money and unemployment, he took this decision.
01:18With great difficulty, he was able to collect 65 lakh rupees to give to an agent who would take him to America through the donkey process.
01:27His wife Vaishali's dream was to go to America and work in a beauty salon.
01:32And Jagdish wanted to give better education to his children.
01:36In this last hope, he leaves his village and takes a flight to Toronto on January 12th.
01:42This donkey process meant that his agent would drop him near the US-Canada border.
01:47And he would have to walk the rest of the way and cross the American border illegally.
01:52And after landing in Toronto, it took about a week for the police to find the bodies of the entire family only 12 meters away from the border.
02:11They're 10-year-old and their father, there's four up here total, I guess.
02:16These four had lost their lives in extremely snowy weather.
02:19They were perhaps unaware that they would have to cross the border in the cold of minus 35 degrees Celsius.
02:26A very painful end to this story.
02:29But Jagdish's family is not the only one like this.
02:32Every year, thousands of Indians try to go to countries like the US and UK illegally through this donkey process.
02:40Many of them lose their lives in this attempt.
02:43This is why the US-Mexico border is known as the world's most dangerous border.
02:48A new film by Rajkumar Hirani and Shah Rukh Khan, called Donkey, has come up on this topic.
02:52So I thought this would be a good opportunity to understand this process properly.
02:56Let's find out the reality of this donkey process in today's video.
03:01This entire process of going to a country without a visa, of making a backdoor illegal entry,
03:15is known as the Donkey Flight or Donkey Process.
03:18Initially, this word was used only for the UK.
03:22Many Indians used to go to the Schengen Zone of Europe to reach the UK in this way.
03:28This is a zone of 27 European countries where only a Schengen visa is required.
03:33If you have a visa from any of these countries, you can cross the border without a visa from another country.
03:38Although the UK has never been a part of the Schengen Zone.
03:41But Europe is quite close to the UK.
03:44People used to try to enter the UK through different ways through Europe.
03:49Some people travel in trucks, some people travel in cars, some people walk for hours.
03:55A statistic from the Migration Policy Institute shows that even 10 years ago,
03:59about 150 Indians were deported from the UK every month.
04:03But today, this donkey-donkey process is used for all kinds of backdoor entrances.
04:09Most people today think of going to America instead of the UK through this donkey process.
04:14There are thousands of visa agencies and companies in India that do this work.
04:17The agents who transport people from here to there in these companies are called donkers.
04:24Two states are very famous in India to export the most illegal immigrants.
04:29Gujarat and Punjab.
04:31But due to increasing unemployment in recent years, Haryana has also advanced a lot in this competition.
04:36How much price these agencies charge depends on which package you take from them.
04:41I am not kidding, they really have packages.
04:43A deluxe travel package in which they will make fake documents for you,
04:47will assist you in travel, an economy package.
04:50If you don't want to pay a lot, they will drop you near the border.
04:54And then you have to walk all the way.
04:57Depending upon the package, they can ask for Rs. 25-60 lakhs.
05:02A lot of people who get trapped in these companies,
05:04either don't realize that the fees for a regular visa is never that high.
05:08Or they are the kind of people who can't get a regular visa for themselves.
05:12They can't meet any requirements to get a visa.
05:15That's why they think that they have no other option other than paying such a high price.
05:19Because this work is done illegally, the application for a regular visa is bypassed.
05:24And people often sell their farms, their homes to save money.
05:30And sometimes they put their entire life savings on this one hope.
05:34Some blame also goes to these companies and agencies.
05:36Because a lot of times these companies mislead people by making false promises.
05:40They say that we will not only take you to America very easily,
05:44but you will also get a lot of job opportunities there.
05:47And the real problems that will come in this journey,
05:50and the legal processes that you will have to face,
05:53they hide all these things.
05:55People who don't know much about these things, get trapped in this trap.
05:58There is an information gap here that is being exploited by these companies.
06:02But today, with the help of AI softwares like ChatGPT,
06:05you can know all these things by yourself.
06:07There is no need to depend on anyone else.
06:09How do the immigration processes of different countries work?
06:12What are their visa requirements?
06:14What are the expenses related to travel?
06:16This knowledge can make you understand ChatGPT in easy Hindi.
06:20Exactly how to use this software for your benefit?
06:23For this, I have made a 4.5 hour course on ChatGPT in full Hindi.
06:28In this, I have taught step by step how you can use it in different tasks.
06:32I have talked about this many times in my previous videos.
06:34But one thing that you may not know is that in this course,
06:37there is a specific lesson on studying abroad.
06:40If you want to study abroad, then there is no need to depend on any consultant.
06:44You can use ChatGPT to know that information.
06:47There is a specific lesson on travel planning.
06:49If you want to travel abroad, then there is no need to depend on any travel agent.
06:53You can do your own planning.
06:55Apart from this, there are different chapters that focus on students,
06:58employees, business owners or household chores.
07:01Thousands of people who have taken this course so far,
07:03found it very useful.
07:04You can see their reviews on the screen.
07:06And next month, I am going to bring a big update in this course.
07:09So, if you have not joined yet,
07:11you will find the link in the description.
07:13Or you can scan this QR code.
07:15And the first 400 people who use the coupon code DUN40,
07:20D-U-N-40,
07:21they will get 40% off.
07:23So, do check it out.
07:25The Patel family, whom I talked about in the beginning of the video,
07:27when I came back to their story,
07:29they did not tell many people where they were going.
07:31On 12th January, after reaching Toronto,
07:34they went to Manitoba province in Canada.
07:36Which is 2100 km away from Toronto.
07:39After that, they were dropped near Emerson town.
07:42This is a small town.
07:43You can see it on the map.
07:44On the other side of the American border,
07:46near North Dakota and Minnesota.
07:48When their bodies were found,
07:50there was no sign of a car or van around them.
07:53This meant that they had been walking for a long time.
07:55And on the same day, when their bodies were found,
07:57a 47-year-old US citizen, Steve Shand, was also arrested on the Canadian side.
08:02About 8 km away from Emerson.
08:05He was driving a 15-seat van,
08:07in which two Gujaratis were seated as passengers.
08:10After that, five more Gujaratis were found,
08:12which were found 400 meters inside America.
08:14When the authorities caught them,
08:16they said that they had been walking for 11 hours.
08:18One of the five people had a backpack
08:21which had diapers, toys and clothes of children.
08:24They said that this bag was not theirs.
08:26They said that there were four more people with them
08:28who got lost on the way.
08:30This bag belongs to the same family.
08:32Even though this plan failed,
08:33these seven Gujarati people at least survived.
08:36Later, they and that American citizen
08:38were arrested by the American police.
08:40This northern border of America,
08:42which is found with Canada,
08:43can be as cold as minus 35-40 degrees Celsius here.
08:47Thinking about it,
08:48it would be better to enter America from the southern border.
08:51But the lower border of USA-Mexico,
08:53is even more dangerous.
08:55Those who take the road there,
08:57during this donkey process,
08:58have to face even more difficulties.
09:00We came to America in a donkey.
09:02Four of us are left.
09:04We are very hungry.
09:05We have been walking for five days.
09:06Look at the jungle of Mexico.
09:08It's like this,
09:09I am an orphan of my parents.
09:11My parents gave me 35-40 lakhs.
09:13It's been two months,
09:14I haven't even spoken to my parents.
09:16I want to say something.
09:18There is no one in the donkey.
09:20Go in number one.
09:21The donkey route from South America
09:23starts in Ecuador and Brazil.
09:25These are two countries where
09:27it is comparatively easier to get a visa for Indians.
09:29In Ecuador,
09:30there was no need for a visa before 2019.
09:33After reaching here,
09:34you have to travel thousands of kilometers.
09:36A journey that goes from
09:38Colombia to Panama,
09:40and then to Mexico.
09:42There is a very dense jungle here.
09:44It is more than 100 km long.
09:46It is called the Darien Gap.
09:48There are no roads in this area.
09:49Only mountains, jungles, bushes and rivers.
09:52No government authority is present in this area.
09:54And it is considered one of the most
09:56dangerous areas in the world.
09:59Because here,
10:00drug cartels and guerrilla groups
10:02often use this road.
10:04The people who take this road
10:06are often killed by these gangs.
10:08There is news that a man has died.
10:10He was shot by a donkey.
10:12His body was found.
10:14The agent did not ask for money.
10:18The donkey shot him.
10:20Many children have died.
10:22I have heard the news.
10:24It's been three months in the jungle.
10:26I can't find a clue.
10:27After crossing this jungle,
10:28you reach the desert of Mexico
10:30where it is extremely hot.
10:32And then you reach this wall.
10:34This tall wall
10:36which was mostly built during Donald Trump's time.
10:54It is a big challenge to cross this wall.
10:56And this road is so dangerous
10:58that look at this article of 2021.
11:00More than 650 people were killed in a year
11:04while crossing the US-Mexico border.
11:06Obviously, the question arises
11:08that despite being so dangerous and dangerous,
11:12why do people spend lakhs of rupees
11:14in this donkey process
11:16and risk their lives?
11:18There are three main reasons behind this.
11:21Let's talk about them one by one.
11:23The first and biggest reason is
11:25economic opportunities.
11:27These are the people who want to leave the country
11:29for better opportunities,
11:31for a better life.
11:32These people are often
11:33greatly influenced by the dreams of the American dream.
11:36They feel that once they reach America,
11:38their life will change.
11:40Generally, people who are upper-class or upper-middle class
11:43want to leave the country for the same reasons.
11:46But they have a lot of legal means.
11:48They have good jobs.
11:50So they can apply for good jobs abroad.
11:52Or they have educational qualifications
11:54so that they can go abroad as students
11:56and study in universities.
11:57But the lower-middle-class people
11:59have no legal means.
12:01They either don't have money or qualifications.
12:04Mitesh Triwadi is a person who left India 30 years ago
12:07and went to Canada.
12:08He tells the BBC that
12:09he was a highly educated engineer in India.
12:12But he wasn't able to rise above.
12:14I was born lower-middle class.
12:16If I had stayed, I would have died lower-middle class.
12:18In 2000, he got Canadian citizenship.
12:21And now he runs a profitable restaurant in Canada.
12:23Many such Mitesh Triwadi
12:25are found in different parts of the country.
12:27When successful cases like this
12:29tell their stories to their family and friends,
12:31they also feel hopeful.
12:33And gradually, more people get motivated
12:35to follow this path.
12:37After listening to the stories of these successful cases,
12:39these families often have a societal pressure
12:41or a family pressure angle.
12:43If every other person from a village
12:45is going abroad to America,
12:47then some people feel that it's a matter of respect.
12:50There should be at least one person
12:52from our family who goes abroad
12:54and settles in America.
12:55Otherwise, what respect will our family have
12:57in our village?
12:58If a child is born in Dingucha,
13:00will he go to America?
13:01Yes.
13:02Not even once.
13:03Not even twice.
13:04If you look at the future,
13:06there is no agriculture,
13:08there is no business.
13:10Only once,
13:12he will go to America.
13:14If you look at the data regarding this,
13:16it is very shocking.
13:17According to the US Customs and Border Protection,
13:19how many Indians actually
13:21entered the American borders illegally?
13:23How fast has this number increased
13:25year after year?
13:26In 2013, this number used to be negligible.
13:28But in 2017,
13:30and in fact after 2019,
13:31see how big an increase we saw here.
13:34From 2020 to 2021,
13:36more than 30,000 Indians did this.
13:38In 2021-22, this has doubled.
13:40It has reached 63,927.
13:43And the latest data point that you can't see
13:45in this graph,
13:46is even higher than this.
13:47Between October 2022 and September 2023,
13:50this number has reached 96,000.
13:53Almost 100,000 Indians
13:55are trying to enter America illegally
13:57in one year.
13:58Out of the 96,917 Indians this year,
14:01around 30,000 were caught through Canada.
14:04And 41,000 were caught near Mexico.
14:07This problem is not only India's.
14:08Many other countries' people
14:10also try to use this donkey process
14:13to enter America.
14:14And the number of Mexicans is even higher
14:16than the number of Indians.
14:17This is obvious because
14:18Mexico is on the border of America.
14:20But in Asian countries,
14:21India comes first.
14:23The data of Center for Migration Studies 2015
14:25shows that around 4.5 lakh people
14:28were found undocumented in America.
14:30This number of China is a little less than India.
14:33Almost 4 lakh.
14:35And you can see the numbers of other countries
14:37on the screen.
14:38Now let's talk about the second reason
14:40why people are doing this.
14:41Which is increasing unemployment in the country.
14:43This is the reason why many Haryanvis
14:45have done this in the past few years.
14:47Because according to the Center for Monitoring
14:48Indian Economy September 2022 report,
14:51the unemployment rate in Haryana
14:53is number one in the country.
14:55Haryana has the highest unemployment rate.
14:5837.3% of the people are unemployed.
15:01Which is 4 times more than the national average.
15:04And this, of course,
15:05is the highest rate in rural Haryana
15:06outside the cities.
15:08These people are living in such bad conditions
15:10in their real life, in their country
15:12that they feel that choosing this
15:14life-threatening path
15:15would be better than the current situation.
15:17In thousands of villages,
15:18unemployed people are selling their family land,
15:20selling gold,
15:21so that money can be raised for this work.
15:24Dhatrath, Morkhi and Kalwa
15:26are some villages in the Jind district of Haryana
15:28which have become the hub of donkey seekers.
15:30These people often take another route.
15:32Going to Dubai on a tourist visa.
15:34And staying in shady hotels without proper food.
15:37And sitting in secret containers
15:39and going from one country to another.
15:41A 20-21-year-old Haryanvi boy,
15:43Nischay Sharma, told his story
15:45that due to weakness in his studies,
15:47he could not go out with a student or job visa.
15:50So he took the route of a donkey flight.
15:53According to him, he was very lucky
15:55to reach within 5 months.
15:57He went to California,
15:58crossing 9 different countries.
16:00Sometimes through the jungles,
16:01sometimes through extreme weather.
16:04He says that many times,
16:05this journey can take up to 2 years.
16:08Many people are killed
16:10or put in lock-up.
16:12And some are killed along the way.
16:14Haryanvi youth says
16:16that they are fed up of the toxic cycle of joblessness.
16:19And the news of entrance exam paper leaks.
16:22But many people don't realise
16:24how dangerous it can be
16:26to take this route.
16:28Then comes the third reason
16:30behind becoming a donkey.
16:31Which is Escaping Political Prosecution.
16:34People who run away from their country
16:36because they were being tortured
16:38or discriminated against.
16:39Technically speaking,
16:40according to Border Patrol,
16:42this is the biggest reason
16:43that people report.
16:44But is this the biggest reason
16:46behind taking the donkey flight?
16:48Here, I would like to tell you an interesting thing.
16:50The people who take the donkey route,
16:53what do they do after crossing the border?
16:56Have you ever thought about it?
16:57Do they hide from the police
16:59and start their new life?
17:02It's not like that.
17:03Most of the people
17:04hand themselves over to Border Patrol.
17:07As soon as they cross the border,
17:08the guards themselves
17:09go with them.
17:11Instead of running away from them.
17:13And the reason behind this is
17:14Seeking Asylum.
17:16What is Asylum?
17:17According to the United Nations
17:18Refugee Agency,
17:19Asylum is a way of protection.
17:21When you seek asylum in a country,
17:23that country protects you
17:25that you can live in that country.
17:27Because if you live in your own country,
17:29you are in danger.
17:30What kind of danger?
17:31It can be a political threat.
17:32Someone can kill you.
17:33Or it can be a religious
17:34or racial discrimination.
17:36So those who follow this path,
17:38go to Border Patrol
17:39and say that
17:40they are seeking asylum.
17:42There are 5-6 different categories
17:43of persecution here.
17:44One is Religious Persecution.
17:46If you belong to a religion
17:48and because of that,
17:49you are discriminated against.
17:51You are tortured.
17:53One is Political Persecution.
17:55Someone is threatened
17:56because of their political beliefs.
17:58Someone's ethnic or regional identity
18:00threatens them.
18:02They are tortured.
18:04One is Caste-Based Persecution.
18:05They are being tortured
18:06because of their caste.
18:08Or the other one is
18:09Social Group Persecution.
18:10If you belong to a social group
18:12against which violence is being seen,
18:14like women or the LGBT community,
18:16then technically,
18:17there can be many reasons.
18:19And those who follow this path illegally,
18:21can tell you any of these reasons.
18:23But actually,
18:24is this reason right,
18:25justified or not?
18:27To decide this,
18:28there is an immigration judge.
18:30So those who apply for asylum
18:32after crossing the border,
18:33they have to go to the Immigration Court
18:35and give their justification and reasoning.
18:37And in front of the court,
18:39they have to prove that
18:40what they are saying is true.
18:41Obviously,
18:42a lot of people lie
18:43because their real reason is something else.
18:45First, there are two reasons.
18:46In such cases,
18:47people are deported again.
18:49Meaning,
18:50lakhs of rupees are spent
18:51and all the money is wasted.
18:52And if you are caught lying,
18:54then a ban is imposed
18:55that from now on,
18:56you will never be able to legally travel
18:58in America in your life.
18:59But here,
19:00it is also important to mention
19:01that there are some genuine people
19:02who actually have this reason
19:04behind taking a donkey flight.
19:06As an example,
19:07we have the story
19:08of Jashanpreet Singh
19:09who lives in Jalandhar.
19:10It is mentioned in this report.
19:12Jashan was a 24-year-old openly gay person
19:15who lived in Jalandhar.
19:16He had to face discrimination
19:18and harassment on a daily basis.
19:20Whether he was a neighbor
19:21or someone he knew from afar.
19:23But one day,
19:24the situation got so bad
19:25that he was abused
19:26and even beaten up.
19:28It is said that
19:29once 15-20 people attacked him
19:31and tried to kill him.
19:33Because of this,
19:34one of his hands is mutilated.
19:36He considered
19:37that he should leave the city
19:39and shift to another city.
19:41But he was afraid that
19:43in India,
19:44the culture is not so open-minded
19:46about gay people.
19:47Then he decided
19:48to take the donkey route
19:50through Turkey and France.
19:53Somehow,
19:54he reached the Mexico border
19:55through which
19:56he entered America.
19:58There, after crossing the border,
19:59he applied for asylum
20:00and he was granted it.
20:02One question will come to your mind
20:04that why did he take the donkey route
20:06and the simple reason behind it is
20:08that asylum is given to those people
20:10who are actually present in that country.
20:13According to the rules of the USA,
20:14if you want to do asylum in America,
20:16then you should be on American soil.
20:18But such cases are very rare
20:20and it is also worth remembering
20:22that economic migration
20:24is not considered
20:25in the category of asylum.
20:27Many people in this effort
20:29are under investigation
20:30for months and years.
20:32Often,
20:33they have to endure torture.
20:35It can take years to process
20:37an asylum application.
20:39And it can also happen that
20:40you stay in America for many years
20:42but after that,
20:43they decide that
20:44you were a liar here
20:45and then you are deported.
20:47And here,
20:48it is also worth remembering
20:49that as soon as you cross the border,
20:51it is not that
20:52you are immediately presented
20:53in front of the Immigration Court.
20:55First of all,
20:56people are put in detention centers
20:58where the situation is very bad.
21:00Often, some detention centers are such
21:02where a lot of people
21:03are kept in a small room.
21:05And for weeks and months,
21:07they remain there
21:08until the police say
21:10that your turn has come.
21:22In the end,
21:23I would like to say a simple thing.
21:24Remember,
21:25where there is life, there is hope.
21:26There is no point in putting your life at stake
21:28and choosing such paths.
21:31The link to download the course
21:32will be found in the description below.
21:34And if you liked this video,
21:35then you will definitely like this one too.
21:37Which social issue was shown
21:38in Shahrukh Khan's last film
21:39released this year,
21:40Jawaan?
21:43Which real issues
21:44were discussed in it?
21:45I have explained this.
21:47You can click here
21:48in this video.
21:49Thank you very much.