7,737 Indians in various jails around the world

As many as 7,737 Indians are languishing in various jails in foreign countries, the Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday.

In a written reply to a question, Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh said wherever required, the Indian missions and posts abroad provide airfare to facilitate the return of Indian prisoners who have completed their sentence.

An amount of Rs 2,72,24,969 was spent as assistance during the period from March 2015 to March 2018 in this regard, he said.

"As per information available with the ministry, as of July 20, 2018, 7,737 Indians are in various jails of foreign countries," Singh said.

Among the 7,737 in jails, 541 were in Nepal and 471 in Pakistan, according to official data.

To another question, the MoS said the number of Indian nationals imprisoned in the jails of Gulf countries, for varying periods of sentences, was 4,604 as of May 2018.

In his reply to another question, the minister said 56 Indians were attacked in 13 countries in 2017, while 31 Indians came under attack in 17 countries this year till July 17.

To a question on the steps being taken by the government to ensure the safe return of Indians from the state of Jharkhand stuck in countries like Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia, Singh said 125 labourers and employees from the state (4 in Afghanistan, one in Ethiopia, one in Iraq, 86 in Malaysia, 31 in Saudi Arabia and two in Malawi) were repatriated between 2016 and 2018 (till July 20, 2018).

The Indian mission and posts provided all required consular assistance to the people and facilitated their return to India, he added.