On Shahrukh Khan’s 58th birthday, the teaser for his next film ‘Dunki’, directed by the celebrated Rajkumar Hirani, dropped online. It gave us a rough idea about the story – how a bunch of people dream of going to London and go to desperate lengths to fulfil that dream. However, it was clear that the film revolves around the concept of ‘Donkey flight’.
Inspiring the name of the film ‘Dunki’, ‘Donkey Flight’ is a term that describes the method of illegal immigration where individuals are transported across countries bypassing border controls and immigration regulations.
The term ‘donkey flight’ is inspired by the image of donkeys being used to travel in difficult terrains and mountainous areas because they can effectively navigate in such places as opposed to vehicles, making it harder to detect them.
Every year, innumerable people from across the world, including India, migrate to countries such as the US and the UK using illegal means seeking better economic opportunities or wanting to flee from difficult conditions back in their home country. A significant number of people from Punjab and Haryana are known to migrate to foreign countries. However, there is no accurate data on the exact number of people who illegally migrate to other countries as the entire deal is secretive.
In addition to this, there are notorious travel agents who make big promises to people wanting to migrate to foreign countries for a better life but trick them with fraudulent practices. They charge exorbitant fees, provide forged documents, and even lure people into human trafficking networks.
According to a report by NDTV, illegal immigrants use the “back door” to enter Britain through other European Union countries. This “back door” is one of the countries of the Schengen zone, the area that allows people to travel unhindered between 25 of the European Union’s 27 member countries. When immigrants reach countries like Germany or France, they meet with “consultants” who help them to reach Britain.
Immigrants who have the financial means are provided with fake documents such as a residency permit and a driver’s licence. Meanwhile, poor immigrants are smuggled from place to place via trucks and buses.
It would be interesting to see Rajkumar Hirani’s take on this entire issue.