The North American Punjabi Association (NAPA) has raised serious alarm over reports that eight Punjabi youths have been stranded in Kazakhstan after falling victim to a travel fraud. NAPA Executive Director Satnam Singh Chahal said that a video widely circulated on social media shows the young men, mostly from Punjab’s Ropar district, being forced to perform hard labour in freezing, snow-covered areas under inhumane conditions.
He said that Preliminary reports suggest that the youths were duped by a local travel agent who promised them lucrative driving jobs abroad. Instead, they were sent to Kazakhstan, where they are now living in metal containers, deprived of proper food, rest, and safety.
Releasing a statement and photographs to the press Chahal said that the families of Punjabi youths who have been missing for years after attempting to migrate abroad through similar illegal routes. “Even before this tragedy, six Punjabi boys went missing in the Bahamas Islands and eighteen others vanished while crossing the Mexico–U.S. border. Their families are still waiting for justice. The ink of their pain has not yet dried, and now we face another heartbreaking story of deception and exploitation,” Chahal said.
Condemning the increasing cases of human trafficking and exploitation of Punjabi youth, Chahal stated, “It is shameful that the sons of the sacred land of Anandpur Sahib — known for their courage and sacrifice — are now suffering humiliation and slavery on foreign soil. The government must act swiftly to ensure their rescue and bring the culprits to justice.”
He further demanded that the Government of India, in coordination with the Punjab Government and international agencies, establish a Joint Task Force to investigate the growing cross-border human trafficking network that targets vulnerable Punjabi youth. “This is no longer a local issue — it is an international crime that requires a coordinated global response. NAPA urges the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Ministry of External Affairs, and Interpol to monitor and intervene to protect innocent lives from organized exploitation,” Chahal emphasized.
NAPA has appealed to the Indian Embassy in Kazakhstan to take immediate steps to locate and repatriate the stranded youths, and to ensure that those responsible for misleading them are prosecuted under strict anti-trafficking laws