Around eight thousand Indian citizens in foreign jails

It is said that more than eight thousand Indian citizens are prisoners in foreign jails of different countries. Among them, 4,389 are in the jails of the Gulf countries, Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said on Friday. “According to the data available in the ministry, the number of Indian prisoners in foreign prisons, including those on remand, is 8,441. Out of which, 4,389 are in the prisons of Gulf countries (United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman), Muraleedharan said. 

Responding to a question on whether inmates in UAE jails can serve the rest of their sentences in Indian jails, the minister of state said the Transfer of Sentenced Persons (TSP), which had been signed in November. He said, “In order to transfer a person sentenced under the TSP agreement to their country, various formalities such as the desire to transfer the prisoner, consent of the transfer and receiving country, availability of complete documents required for the request process, clearance, and the necessary documents for that process have been sent to the UAE.” ‘

After the case of eight ex-naval officers detained in Doha came to the fore again, this issue has again become a matter of public interest. On December 1, Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that India is regularly responding to the case of former Indian Navy officers arrested in Qatar and the embassy is taking the matter seriously. The spokesperson also said that some of the detainees have families in Doha and are allowed to visit them on a weekly basis.