SRK's Dunki is about ‘donkey flights’: What's this illegal immigration method?

After giving us the super-entertaining Pathaan and Jawan, Shah Rukh Khan is capping the year with Rajkumar Hirani’s Dunki, a comedy-drama, also starring Taapsee Pannu, Boman Irani and Vicky Kaushal. Dunki, which has released today (21 December) is set to fire up the box office and initial reviews are giving the Badshah and his film a massive thumbs-up. In fact, the Shah Rukh-starrer has already started its theatrical journey on a high note with its advance bookings – the movie, according to some trade pundits has already earned over Rs 10 crore from advance bookings.

Thank u guys and girls have a good show and hope u all get entertained by #Dunki. https://t.co/y9arzwZBHs

— Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) December 21, 2023

But what is this movie all about? And why are people going gaga over it? Shah Rukh at a recent event throwing light on the movie, said that it was about ‘Donkey Flights’, an illegal immigration technique that provides “back door entry” into the United States, United Kingdom and Canada. “Dunki is about an illegal trip. A lot of people take to get out of their country across borders all over the world. It’s called the donkey travel. Humare desh se bhi jate hai, doosre desh se bhi jate hai (people from our country, as well as other countries, undertake this journey),” he explained. But what exactly is this technique? How do Indians use it to enter countries like the US and UK and live out their dreams? Here’s a closer look. What’s the Donkey Flight method? ‘Donkey Flights’ or the ‘Donkey Flight method’ is when would-be immigrants use a backdoor route to enter a foreign country via multiple stops in other countries to enter the target country. According to Migration Policy Institute, the term comes from the Punjabi idiom meaning to hop from place to place. In simple terms, donkey flights are a way to exploit immigration loopholes by entering a foreign country via multiple stops in other countries. For example, Indians can get a tourist visa for a Schengen-zone country in order to enter the United Kingdom. For the US, they can fly to South American countries. If one wished to immigrate to Western Europe, they would – until last year – travel to Serbia without a visa and stay there for up to 30 days. In that period, the agents or human traffickers would organise a ‘donkey route’ sea journey from Serbia to Italy for the Indians. Serbia has Austria, Slovenia and Croatia on one side and Macedonia and Greece on the other side. Thus, from here, it is easy to enter European Union (EU) or Schengen countries. And these donkey flights are an open secret. A YouTube search for “USA Donkey” shows several how-to videos in Hindi or Punjabi about illegal border crossing. One vlog even shows a group passing through a Panama jungle to reach the border. Who uses the ‘Donkey Flight’ method the most? The business of ‘Donkey Flights’ is widely spread in Punjab, where a large population of the youth wish to travel abroad and settle there. The business has also spread to nearby Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. The business is also finding its footing in Gujarat, as a large number of people from the western state seek to move abroad. What’s the modus operandi then? The con begins when young people with the dreams of going abroad to earn well approach travel agents. These travel agencies lure the would-be immigrants with the promise of “guaranteed visas” at cut-price rates. While some of these agencies are legitimate, there are others whose methods are not entire above board. As Bhupinder Khanpur, co-owner of the Cambridge Education and Immigration Point in Kurukshetra’s Ladwa town, told The Print, “First they try the student visa route, and if that is rejected, they either turn to the illegal route or become agents themselves.” These would-be immigrants pay exorbitant fees to these agents and then undertake dangerous journeys, sometimes without any food and water, to reach their destination. For instance, the agents, called ‘donkers’, make clients walk the whole length of the Darien Gap that connects Columbia with Panama. People often cross this cartel-infested stretch by marching for days on empty stomachs, fending off venomous snakes and life-threatening diseases. The objective at the end is to reach the United States and then live off their American Dream. [caption id=“attachment_13337362” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Using the Donkey Flight method to gain entry into the US is no simple task. It’s dangerous. Often times, it includes clients walking the whole length of the Darien Gap that connects Columbia with Panama. People often cross this cartel-infested stretch by marching for days on empty stomachs, fending off venomous snakes and life-threatening diseases. File image/Reuters[/caption] Manpreet Brar, who returned to India after being deported from the US, was quoted as telling the Economic Times, “I along with 12 others trekked through dense forests in either Colombia or Panama for more than 10 days. The little water we had was over in the first few days. Hiking across mountains and thorny paths in humid weather with the occasional rain that would make the terrain even more difficult, we made it only by God’s help.” So dangerous is the route that in January 2022, a family of four, including two children aged 3 and 11 years, were found frozen to death about 10 metres from the US border. For UK, a similar method is used. First the client is made to travel to a Schengen country; mostly Germany, Belgium or France. From there, “consultants” provide them with fake documents such as a residency permit or driving licence, which gives them easy entry into UK. Why do people opt for Donkey Flights? The urge to emigrate from India is largely driven by the prospect of making better money and therefore living better. Professor Virinder Singh Kalra of the University of Warwick in Coventry, UK, tells The Wire, “Look at Punjabi singer/rapper Sidhu Moose Wala as an example. “He had nothing going for him in India. Then he moved to Brampton, Canada, and became a multi-millionaire. So everybody thinks they will make easy money, quick money, abroad. Though they also know that this is just a dream, it seems to motivate them.” [caption id=“attachment_13337382” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] America, UK and Canada often see nab illegal immigrants on their soil, who have entered using the ‘Donkey Flights’ method. Image used for representational purposes/Reuters[/caption] Moreover, many who have used ‘Donkey Flights’ state that the dangers associated with the method is nothing compared to the life they lead later. They argue that all the dangers in the world don’t matter if they are able to live a better life and provide money to their families back home. For others who opt for ‘Donkey Flights’, there is that sense of adventure. However, ultimately money and the lure of better life forces people to opt for these illegal methods of immigration. As Professor Kalra told The Wire: “Why people take the risk is pretty simple. It’s because of a lack of opportunities in Punjab and generally in North India. Even when the donkey route is so precarious, they know that once they get past the donkey route, there’s work for them in the kiwi farms.” And the lure is real. Just recently, the Wall Street Journal reported that from last October to this September, nearly 42,000 Indians have crossed the US border illegally . This double the number from the same period the previous year, when the number of Indians crossing the US border illegally hit a historic high. A similar trend can be seen in the UK too. Indians have become the second largest group of migrants crossing into the UK over the English Channel on risky small boats, according to the UK Home Office. According to the data, 675 Indian nationals entered the country by small boat between January and March, amid a “surge in attempts to evade work visa restrictions”. The UK Home Office data also revealed that in January about 250 Indians had entered the UK, outnumbering the 233 who arrived via small boats in the first nine months of last year. With inputs from agencies