The United States government on Wednesday deported Nepalis who were residing illegally in the United States and dropped them off in Kathmandu.
A Gulfstream GRP-23 aircraft arriving from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA, landed at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) at 10 AM on Wednesday, according to airport spokesperson Rinji Sherpa.
The US previously used military aircraft when deporting people to other countries. Recently, too, illegal immigrants were returned to India on a military plane.
However, the aircraft that arrived in Nepal on Wednesday was not a military aircraft, Sherpa said, adding that the aircraft would return to the US on Thursday.
Gyanendra Bhul, spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, said that there were eight Nepalis on the aircraft.
They were handed over to the Immigration Office.
Tirtha Bhattarai, chief of the Immigration Office, TIA, said that all eight Nepalis have been handed over to the police.
"After we completed our procedures, the Anti Human Trafficking Bureau of the police sought them for questioning. We have handed them over to the bureau," Bhattarai said.
Superintendent of Police Narendra Kunwar, spokesperson for the Anti Human Trafficking Bureau of Nepal Police, said that those deported by the US have been called for questioning to determine if they are victims of human trafficking and smuggling.
"We have called them in to conduct a general inquiry into how they reached there and whether they are victims of human trafficking and smuggling," he said.
SP Kunwar said that they would be released after the questioning.
