A large number of Indians visit Saudi Arabia for purposes ranging from business, employment to worship. Recently, a data came out which revealed a big thing. It came to light that Saudi Arabia, not America, has deported the largest number of Indians. According to the latest data of the Ministry of External Affairs presented in the Rajya Sabha, more than 24 thousand 600 Indians were deported from 81 countries in the year 2025.
Of these, the maximum number of deportations took place not from America, but from Saudi Arabia, where more than 11 thousand Indians were sent back in 12 months. In comparison, only 3,800 Indians were deported from America in 2025, most of whom were private sector employees. According to the report, this number is the highest number of deportations recorded from America in the last 5 years. Experts say that the reason for this is the recent strictness taken by the Trump administration and increased scrutiny of matters like documents, visa status, work permission, overstaying the visa period.
Saudi Arabia deported the maximum number of Indians in the entire world. Saudi deported 11 thousand Indians. At the same time, America expelled 3,800. Most of the deportations from the US came from Washington DC (3,414) and Houston (234). Other countries from where a large number of Indians were deported include Myanmar (1,591), UAE (1,469), Bahrain (764), Malaysia (1,485), Thailand (481) and Cambodia (305).
According to the latest data of the Ministry of External Affairs, the reasons for a large number of deportations, especially from Gulf countries, include overstaying in the country beyond the visa or residency period, working in the country without valid work permission, violating labor laws, absconding from the employer, involvement in criminal cases.
Bheema Reddy, vice-chairman of the NRI advisory committee of the Telangana government, said, a large number of Indians go to Gulf countries to work. This is a common pattern in the Gulf countries. Here people work as laborers in the construction sector, become caregivers or are engaged in household chores. Most of these people are low-skilled workers who go to these countries through agents and in many cases get caught in petty crimes in an attempt to earn more money.
He further said that in some cases, lack of awareness about local laws and regulations also proves costly. Many times these people who go to Gulf countries are not aware and the agents cheat them. These workers become victims of fraud and are caught by the police abroad and then deported.
However, the pattern of deportation is different in countries like Myanmar and Cambodia. According to Reddy, most of these cases are related to cyber crime. These countries have become major hubs of a multi-billion dollar cyber crime industry, where Indians are lured by promises of high-paying jobs, then forced to work in illegal activities and then arrested and deported.
According to Naga Bharani of Telangana Overseas Manpower Company, it is therefore important that workers are informed about the rules before reaching abroad. People should be asked to keep an eye on their visa deadlines and follow local rules, he said. There is always the option to apply for a visa extension.
Talking about deportation of students, a maximum of 170 Indian students were sent back to the country from Britain in 2025. After this, maximum number of deportations were done from Australia (114), Russia (82) and America (45).
