22 African Women Allege Indefinite Detention in India as Trafficking Victims and Children Remain Confined
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jul 2
22 African Women Allege Indefinite Detention in India as Trafficking Victims and Children Remain Confined
1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jul 2
Summary
22 women in three Indian detention centres told the Guardian they are being held for months or years after police picked them up over visa or documentation issues, despite many saying they were trafficked.
Mary, a 55-year-old Kenyan mother, says she was moved to a foreigners’ detention centre after serving a two-year drug sentence and has gone nine months without HIV medication; she says another HIV-positive Ugandan detainee died there three months ago.
Lily, a 27-year-old Ugandan, says she and her two sons, aged 2 and 4, have been confined near Bengaluru for more than a year after a 2025 police raid over an invalid visa, leaving the children out of school and living in filthy conditions.
Operation Clean Sweep, launched in 2025, expanded crackdowns on African nationals across Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Hyderabad and other states, with activists saying trafficking survivors, refugees and people with pending cases are being trapped by missing documents.
Lawyers and anti-trafficking groups say Indian authorities routinely treat African detainees as illegal migrants rather than victims, while the FRRO, key ministries, police and African missions contacted by the Guardian had not responded.