Nine Nepalis deported from the United States were handed over to the Nepal Police on Wednesday morning for further questioning. Eight of them arrived on a charter flight, while one was aboard a regular flight.

The deportees were processed by the immigration office at Tribhuvan International Airport before being handed over to the Nepal Police’s Human Trafficking Investigation Bureau.

Since US President Donald Trump took office, the US authorities expedited deportations of people staying there illegally. The number of Nepali nationals being deported has also significantly increased, with 36 Nepalis deported since January 20. Of these, 28 were deported via regular flights, while eight were brought to Nepal through a chartered flight.

The Nepali embassy in Washington provided travel documents for the deportees after the US government issued a deportation list. According to Tirtha Raj Bhattarai, head of the immigration office at the airport, the deportations began in late January and have continued throughout February and into March.

The immigration office processes the paperwork of deported individuals before they are handed over to the police for further investigation. Many of the deportees had entered the US illegally, either through human traffickers or by overstaying their visas.