All abroad
Hundreds of people in Haryana are getting the bug to move out of India — but for one man and his family, the dream disappeared in the Mediterranean Sea.
By Anna Pearson
Shiv Kumar stands in front of a field after recounting the details of his son’s immigration attempt. The family is still struggling to receive the go-ahead to be able to get a DNA test from the Indian government in order to determine whether Sahil has been identified among the rescued migrants. | Photo by Merrina O’Malley
Most of the people have left from here. We are also about to leave. If you don’t hear from me for a few days, don’t worry.”
Shiv Kumar hasn’t heard from his son Sahil since that voice message, sent June 8, 2023, the day — as he understands via messages from his son — that Sahil and 753 other migrants boarded an overloaded fishing boat on the north coast of Libya. The boat, the Adriana, was meant to carry 250 at capacity, according to an article from The New York Times detailing the predestined doom of the ship. Since Sahil departed from his home in Kailram, Haryana, March 28, he had called his family every morning and night with updates about his journey out of India.
Even when he had no cellular service, other migrant men from Pakistan, sharing the lowest level of the ship, would share phones to contact loved ones back home, so Sahil’s family learned to expect calls from any number and hear Sahil’s voice on the other side.
He is 19 years old.
In the months since, the family knows time — and hope — is running out.
_____
“Most of the people have left from here. We are also about to leave. If you don’t hear from me for a few days, don’t worry.”
Sahil’s yearning to leave is similar to many hopeful Haryana natives seeking opportunities abroad. If someone in the family hasn’t gone abroad, everyone knows a neighbor, in-law or friend who has. This increasing trend has become a new aspiration for those seeking work, living or education possibilities.
More people are emigrating out of India now than ever, with the world’s largest diaspora population as of 2020 — 18 million India natives live outside of their home country. Haryana is seeing this migration trend firsthand, especially with younger generations, seeking work or further education in countries from Australia to the United States. Friends’ and relatives’ stories of success abroad have become fuel for those who dream of one day leaving India for something deemed bigger and better.
Six other young men from Kailram, with a population of around 8,845, have gone abroad — mostly to the U.S. and Europe, according to Shiv. Shiv would rather his sons work on the family’s land, but Sahil was not interested in pursuing agriculture and had never cared much about his studies.
Shiv was originally hesitant to encourage his son to follow in the footsteps of others in the village, but Sahil maintained what his father called his stubborn composure long enough for Shiv to give in. Plastered over the streets of the city are advertisements around every corner for visas and immigration agencies, sporting bright Canadian, American and Australian flag depictions.
Signs reading “Gold Loan,” listing the types of visas offered and donning slogans like “Come with a dream, go with a career” grab the attention of passersby looking for a way to begin their journey to leave India. Advertising themselves as immigration agents and overseas education consultants, billboards boast names, locations and contact information to reach out to agents.
Obtaining a visitor visa for the United States requires a multi-step process, in which the order of completion varies by U.S. Embassy or Consulate. For people ages 14-79, interviews are generally required for visa applicants, and appointments for such interviews can have wait times over 200 days for the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi.
Applicants also must pay a non-refundable visa application fee of $185 before their interview, with no guarantee of an approval. If approved, they may also be required to pay a visa reciprocity fee.
Two different types of immigration agents work with Indians seeking a way abroad — one is in visible immigration offices, posting advertisements on billboards and primarily assisting in obtaining study visas through legal channels.
The other type operates discreetly, facilitating illegal means of immigration without formal offices, and work scattered without a fixed location. Lacking a central location requires individuals to identify these agents solely through references from those who have successfully reached their destinations.
Sahil insisted he didn’t have a future ahead of him if he stayed in India, so he arranged with immigration agents in Haryana a way to get to Italy. Choosing Italy as the final destination was largely due to the cost, as it would be cheaper — costing only 12 lakhs (around $14,500).
_____
Sahil’s journey
June 8:
left Libya on a ship headed for Italy
June 14:
shipwrecked 50 miles off the coast of Pylos, Greece
March 28:
left Haryana for Dubai
April 2:
flew from Dubai to Hurghada, Egypt, on the way to Libya
The fishing boat Sahil traveled on, the Adriana, began having problems after a few days at sea and capsized about 50 miles off the coast of Pylos, Greece, according to reports from The New York Times. The captain repeatedly ignored the passengers’ calls for help. The immediate death toll: 79 found on the first day after the accident, with three more dead found in the following two days.
Seven months after the boat accident — which caught the attention of major news outlets to cover stories on the migrants from Pakistan, Syria and Egypt — there was still no mention of the few Indian men on board.
“The hope is still there, because there is no proof,” Shiv said. “There is always floating information, like that there was more than one rescue ship. Sometimes they say there were two or three.”
Sahil’s family has declared him missing. They refuse to say he might be dead.
Shiv’s wife Anita can’t talk about her son’s disappearance without having to lay sick in bed for multiple days afterward. She rarely leaves the house. Sahil’s younger brother Vivek, 16, agrees with their father — with no proof, they must hold onto hope.
Shiv Kumar and his youngest son look over the documents they’ve gathered, containing details about Sahil and his journey to Italy. In the months since Sahil’s disappearance, the family has checked for news updates as much as possible, such as on the YouTube channel InfoMigrants. “Right now, there is no news because it’s an old event,” Shiv said. “So you won’t get any news on that.” | Photo by Merrina O’Malley
Shiv, a folk musician, closed his music studio in order to travel to Kaithal four times a week for meetings with lawyers and administrators, who pored over the details of his son’s journey countless times, and knows the numbers of passengers on the ship by heart. He sits calmly, portraying the details of the story with an unwavering voice and a grave look on his face as he recalls the details.
For other families in Haryana, that hope is instilled in others’ successful journeys abroad. Parveen, 35, recently set off for the United States. His wife Savita and their two daughters, 7 and 2 years old, awaited news of his arrival for a month as their lives continued on in Kaithal.
After not getting a government job in India, Parveen sought a life with fewer confines in the U.S. Savita feels the struggle of an overbearing schedule, hoping she can find open opportunities outside of India as well.
“There are so many boundaries here,” Savita said. “There, we work for five days and enjoy two days. But here, we have to work … we don’t have time [for a break].”
Parveen reached the U.S.-Mexico border Jan. 29 and successfully made it to America. His group, loaded with hiking backpacks and donning light puffer coats, triumphantly rushed toward the rocks surrounding the wall as they pulled themselves up and over.
For the family Parveen left hopeful in Haryana, the wait was over. Now, they worry less about Parveen’s safe travels and await news of financial success.
“This is the wall of America, by God’s grace we have reached,” one of the men with Parveen said, running toward the wall. “Bow down to this land, bro. Reached. We have reached — Who says the donkey route is difficult?”
The term “donkey route” refers to the Punjabi word dunki, meaning to move from one place to another, and references the process of illegal border crossings via indirect routes, often with multiple stops in other countries before the final desired destination. This process was portrayed in a movie released in December 2023 titled “Dunki,” which details four friends’ experiences following such a route.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data, a record 96,917 Indians were apprehended between October 2022 and September 2023 attempting to illegally enter the country from Canada and Mexico.
Despite his son’s uncertain fate, Shiv still understands why others want to leave India. He doesn’t necessarily discourage others from attempting to immigrate, and thinks attempts to seek a better life are justified.
“India is suffering a lot,” Shiv said. “I don’t believe in such treatment. There are such people here too. Every child is a citizen.”
_____
In the streets of Kaithal, advertisements boast anything from gym memberships and beauty products to visas for students and immigrants. One wall of billboards advertises an education consultant’s study abroad program to popular destinations such as the U.S., Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. | Photo by Hersh Singh
One of Parveen’s relatives, Shiven, 19, awaits news of an approved visa to attend college in Australia at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology to pursue a bachelor’s degree in business. He decided last year to study abroad because of his brother, who had also gone to university in Australia, and hopes to be able to leave India in the next year and a half
Shiven doesn’t have many expectations for leaving, other than repeatedly talking about his excitement for the day when his visa comes to get the ball rolling on his plan. For Indians leaving the country as students, their plan to apply for college and get a student visa is more straightforward than other immigrants.
The agents that advertise their services all over Haryana seldom have direct connections to the desired destination countries — their plan often includes a chain of agents, stringing along the hopeful migrants from country to country, visa to visa, day by day.
Sahil’s plan used a string of five agents to help him along the way. His first destination was Dubai, leaving with the knowledge that his agents told him they had obtained a 35-day visa for his second stop of Libya. The cost was 35 lakhs (about $42,000) for one visa.
“Maybe tomorrow they’ll take us to Italy,” Sahil said in a phone call to his family once he arrived in Libya.
The agents who Sahil used on his journey abroad had no personal relationship joining them outside of their desires to make money, Shiv says now. The last agent arranging Sahil’s trip, Randeep Kaur, left India before the ship Sahil was on capsized.
She is now reportedly in the United States, escaping an ongoing investigation into Sahil’s disappearance and the boat accident by his family. Sahil’s family have filed multiple complaints with the police concerning the agents involved in their son’s travels, but no tangible progress was made to get Kaur back in India for legal proceedings.
Despite the family’s efforts to seek support from influential figures in the police and political spheres, all attempts have been unsuccessful.
“We are kind of powerless in front of the U.S. administration. Because most of the people that have gone from here don’t have any power to get her back from the U.S.”
“We are kind of powerless in front of the U.S. administration,” Shiv said. “Because most of the people that have gone from here don’t have any power to get her back from the U.S.”
In January, seven months after the accident, the ongoing court proceedings have become droning and have made Shiv numb to the details of his son’s disappearance. Every day, the family checks for news updates on Facebook or the YouTube channel InfoMigrants, dedicated to countering misinformation for migrants available in six languages: French, Arabic, English, Dari, Pashto and Bengali.
In the meantime, Shiv and his family focus on obtaining access to a DNA test from the Indian government to send to Greece, where most of the shipwrecked migrants from the Adriana have taken refuge. The family is urging local police to explore avenues for collecting DNA samples with the intention of sending them to Athens for comparison with refugees or the remains of individuals who may have died.
The Indian Embassy in Athens has been notified of the requested test and Shiv is ready to independently facilitate the process, but police have been so far unresponsive.
If they are able, the DNA test results would allow them to find out if any of the migrants who were found — dead or alive — are Sahil.