Tuesday at three in the morning, a charter plane with 276 passengers—mostly Indians—that had been grounded in France for four days due to possible human trafficking, touched down in Mumbai.

There were 303 people on board when the aircraft touched down at the Vatry airport in France on Thursday, 11 of them were children.

Of these, twenty-five people—two of whom were minors—had indicated that they wished to apply for asylum and were still in France.

Those who persisted were moved to an area designated specifically for asylum seekers at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.

Two more were detained and brought before a French judge in the interim. After that, they were set free and given the position of aided witness.
 

The majority of these travelers from Punjab and Haryana were on their way to Mumbai,masks and handkerchiefs covering their faces, they walked out of the airport without any interactions.

The flight, which was being flown by the Romanian charter firm Legend Airlines, was headed for Nicaragua when it made an emergency landing at Vatry on Thursday while traveling from Dubai. French police then got involved.

An anonymous tip had led them to believe that victims of human trafficking might be on board the aircraft. For the following three days, the aircraft and its occupants stayed in France as officials opened a court case to look into the purpose of the flight.

The Vatry Airport authorities and the French government were commended on Monday by the Indian Embassy in France for their hospitality and prompt resolution of the issue, which allowed the Indian passengers to return home.

According to news sources, the passengers may have planned their voyage to get to the Central American nation so they could try to enter the US or Canada illegally from there.

Up to 96,917 Indians made illegal attempts to get into the United States in 2023; Nicaragua was a common destination for individuals looking to apply for shelter in the United States of America.