(Image source from: The Wire)

The asylum seekers of over 50 illegal Indian immigrants in the United States fearing religious and political ill-treatment back home are being treated like criminals in an Oregon federal prison where they have been confined for the past several weeks now, according to volunteers from legal advocacy groups.

"It's heartbreaking when you go in there and you see the young kids, ages close to starting from 18 onwards, 22 to 24 in those jumpsuits…and you wonder how they ended up being treated like criminals. They've not committed a crime, they have crossed the border and they have asked for refugee (status) or asylum and that is a law of this land," Navneet Kaur, a community college professor, told PTI.

Kaur has interacted with most of the 52 Indian inmates over the past several weeks, in the federal prison at Sheridan in Oregon. She works for a non-profit legal firm as a Punjabi translator which is providing legal aid to the illegal immigrants in the jailhouse.

"Right now, they are in a miserable condition," she said.

Of the 52 Indians, a majority of them are Punjabi speaking and are Sikhs.

When they were arrested, these Indian asylum seekers were in chains, said Kaur recollecting her conversations.

"When they were in handcuffs and chains for 24 hours, they ate with their handcuffs on. Even the hardcore criminals are not treated like that. Then they were kept for 22 hours a day in a cell with people who did not speak their language," she said. "It's inhuman."

The situation is worsened for the Sikh inmates as their turbans have been taken away in the jail.

"In a country where everyone has the right to practice their own religion, these men don’t have turbans to cover (their head). Not even a piece of cloth to cover their heads," said Kaur.

The local community leaders during the last few days, have managed to give beanies to a few of the Sikh inmates so that they can cover their heads.

"They (Indian inmates) are in a state of shock," said Kaur, adding that in spite of this, none of these Indian asylum seekers want to go back home.

"They are feeling very shocked. I don't know if that means that people are going to say I would rather go home because they're fleeing for their lives. I think that they're all feeling like is this worth it if I’m going to be treated this way," Victoria Bejarano Muirhead, development director at the non-profit Innovation Law lab, told PTI.

A lawsuit has been filed by the Innovation Law lab to seek access to these inmates and has been rendering lawful assistance to all Indian asylum seekers who want it.

Few Indian asylum seekers have employed their own attorneys. As a result of the intervention of the Innovation Law Lab, the condition of these inmates has improved and they are being allowed to make both domestic and international calls.

By Sowmya Sangam