Context: Recently, a Bollywood movie with the title “Dunki” has been released, which highlights the prevalence of illegal migration through the “donkey route”.

About Dunki

• It is an illegal trip, which is used by many people to get out of their country across borders all over the world. It is called the Donkey Travels or Donkey Flight.

Donkey Route from India to America 

• The First Step is to reach a Latin American country: This step is about reaching a Latin American Country which gives visas on arrivals for Indians easily like Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Brazil, and Venezuela. This step is not tough. However, it can take months.
• The Second Step is to reach Colombia: From a Latin American country, the next step is to reach Colombia. 
• The Third Step is to enter Panama: From Colombia, the migrants enter Panama, which involves crossing the Darién Gap, a dangerous forest between the two countries. 
• Risks Involved: 
  • Lack of clean water, wild animals, and criminal gangs. 
  • Migrants can face robbery and even rape. 
  • If everything goes well, the journey takes eight to ten days. 
• Alternative to avoid the dangerous forest of Panama: It is the route from Colombia that starts from San Andrés to Nicaragua. Fishing boats with illegal migrants go to Fisherman’s Cay, around 150 kilometers from San Andrés. From there, migrants are transferred onto another boat to move forward to Mexico. But it is not much safer. 
• The Fourth Step is to enter Mexico via Guatemala: Guatemala is a big coordination centre on this route and from here migrants are handed over to new traffickers to enter Mexico.
  • Some agents arrange a direct visa for Mexico from Dubai. However, landing directly in Mexico is considered more dangerous, in terms of arrest by local authorities.

• The Last Step is to enter at the US border: The 3,140-km border separating the United States and Mexico has fencing, which the migrants have to jump across. 
  • Many choose to cross the dangerous Rio Grande river. 
  • It is after crossing over that migrants are detained and then kept in camps. Now, their fate depends on whether US authorities find them fit for asylum.

Must Read: International Migration Outlook 2023

Availability of a New and Safer Donkey Route

• From Europe to Mexico and then the US: It all depends upon the agents’ contacts. It is easier to go through Europe. 

Risks and Challenges:

• It is an irregular migration technique where individuals use multiple, often indirect flight connections to enter a target country, typically one with stricter entry requirements. 
• Often fueled by desperation and misinformation, this practice arises from individuals seeking to exploit loopholes in immigration systems.
• It can pose significant risks to individuals and raise concerns for destination countries. 
  • Agents in India have connections with traffickers all the way to the US. If for some reason, Indian agents fail to make the payment, it can mean a matter of life and death for the migrant. 
• It is very expensive as an average donkey trip may cost between Rs 15 lakh and Rs 40 lakh. But sometimes, the cost is as high as Rs 70 lakh. 
• Legal consequences: Entering a country illegally carries risks of detention, deportation, and criminal charges.
• Safety and Health concerns: Long, arduous journeys, unfamiliar environments, and potential exploitation pose physical and mental health risks.

Global Impacts

• Challenges for Destination Countries: Donkey flights can strain immigration systems and raise security concerns.
• Ethical Implications: Exploiting loopholes raises questions about fairness and the treatment of vulnerable individuals.
• Potential for Human Trafficking: Criminal networks may exploit desperation to trap individuals in exploitative situations.

The Path Ahead

To control and combat this issue, there is a need to create more job opportunities in home countries, steps need to be taken to provide such facilities which lead to a better life and livelihood and strict actions should be taken against such middlemen who carried out this donkey route play.