Deportations of Indians have increased in recent years from several countries like the UAE, USA, Malaysia, Myanmar.
Key Points
- More than 171,000 Indians were deported from 52 countries between 2021 and 2025=.
- About 900 Indians per million overseas residents faced deportation in 2025 amid growing immigration enforcement across multiple regions.
- West Asian countries continued contributing the highest deportation share despite a noticeable decline from 93% to 73%.
- North America and Southeast Asia recorded rising shares of Indian deportations linked to visa fraud and documentation violations.
- Countries including the UAE, USA, Malaysia, and Myanmar witnessed increased deportations of Indians in recent years.
The past fortnight has been tense for Indians, as several reports of deportations surfaced.
These included the deportation of an Indian from Canada linked to extortion-related crime and the deportation of over a dozen Indians from Australia due to visa fraud and fake documentation.
Data shows that between 2021 and 2025, a total of 171,150 Indians were deported from 52 countries.
In 2025, with 35.4 million overseas Indians living abroad, the figures indicate that around 900 Indians were deported per million people residing overseas.
Chart 1:
The number of Indians deported per country rose from 1,132 in 2021 to 1,406 in 2023, but then declined to 771 in 2025.
During this period, the number of countries deporting Indians ranged between 24 and 42.
Chart 2:
West Asian countries accounted for the highest share of deportations of Indians.
However, their share fell from 93% in 2023 to 73% in 2025.
In contrast, North America's share rose from 2% to 12%, while Southeast Asia’s share increased from 3% to 10% during the same period.
Chart 3:
Deportations of Indians have increased in recent years in several countries, including the UAE, the USA, Malaysia, and Myanmar.
Whereas Saudi Arabia and Qatar have witnessed a decline in their share of deportations of Indians.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff
© 2026