Fifteen Somali nationals a are stranded at a Mumbai police station after they were set free at the end of a 6 year jail term.
According to an official of the Somalia Embassy in India the government is unable to raise airfare for the fifteen after they were freed from Taloja central jail in Mumbai
The Embassy says the fifteen have to wait for a second group of 27 men who were convicted on August 2017 and are expected to be released on Friday.
“We made arrangements for the stay of the 15 men released last week on the Yellow Gate police station premises since there is no detention centre where they could be lodged till they are deported. It will be difficult to accommodate a large number. We have been informed by the Somali Embassy that they are making arrangements for their return as soon as possible once the second group is released,†a senior police official is quoted by the Indian Express.
“It would have been financially feasible for us to take the men together. Taking them in groups on commercial airlines is a security risk. But we were informed about the release date of the first batch only two days prior to the release. We requested the prison authorities to continue lodging them in the jail till all the men can be released. But we were informed by the state government, through the Ministry of External Affairs, that there is no detention centre in the entire state to keep prisoners in such situations,†Vishwajeet Singh the lawyer representing the embassy and the prisoners told The Indian Express.
There are currently 117 Somalis awaiting to be returned back home after serving sentences in different Indian jails for charges ranging from piracy to being in country illegally.