MP Satnam Sandhu Raises Issue of Human Trafficking of Indian Youth During Zero Hour
MP Satnam Singh Sandhu demands special investigation in the illegal migration of Indian youth through ‘Dunki Route’ by the government
Babushahi Network
New Delhi, 1 December 2025- Member of Parliament Satnam Singh Sandhu today raised the issue of human trafficking of Indian youth by various offshore labour companies which promises them of lucrative career options in different countries during Zero Hour on the first day of the Winter Session in Rajya Sabha.
While demanding the intervention of government in this important issue, MP Satnam Singh Sandhu brought in attention of the House by citing the recent cases of Punjabi youth being recruited by placement agencies in Russia for construction jobs but were actually forced to join the Russian Forces in the Russia-Ukraine war.
“This way of human trafficking also known as ‘Dunki Route ‘is being done by placement agencies in different parts of the country specially in Punjab which have developed a big network to lure Indian youth for international jobs. These agencies after recruiting the youth and taking them to different nations like Russia forcefully take possession of their passports and make them work for illegal activities such as benign recruited in Russian Forces to operate in warzone, risking their lives,” added Sandhu.
Rajya Sabha MP Satnam Singh Sandhu had earlier taken up this issue with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to rescue of several Punjabi youths who were stranded in Russia after being allegedly duped with false promises of lucrative jobs.
MP Sandhu thanked MEA for timely intervention in this important issue and helping in rescuing 96 Indian nationals from Russia who have safely returned back to their motherland. According to the media reports, a total of 126 such Indian national nations had gone to Russia on the pretext of lucrative jobs being offered but later served in Russian Forces in the warzone. He said while 12 such Indian nationals died in the combat, 18 Indian nationals remain in combat and out of these whereabouts of 16 Indians are still not known.
In yet another case, five Punjabi youth held captive in Capurgana Columbia while attempting to travel to USA through ‘Dunki Route’ were successful rescued by MEA in May 2025 after the issue was raised by MP Satnam Singh Sandhu.
Due to increasing number of human trafficking cases from India, specially Punjab, MP Satnam Singh Sandhu demanded a special investigation to be conducted by Government of India in this regard and put a special surveillance on such offer shore labour recruitment agencies which are involved in illegal human trafficking of Indian youth through ‘Dunki Route’.