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Indian nurse Nimisha was to be sentenced to death in Yemen on 16 July. However, on July 15, Nimisha’s sentence was temporarily postponed.
The Ministry of External Affairs, while answering a question in the Lok Sabha, said that at present 43 Indians in 11 countries including Yemen are facing death sentence. Also, 10,574 Indian citizens are lodged in jails in more than 70 countries of the world.
Some of these are undertrants, some are punished and some are waiting for release or extradition despite completing punishment. Of these, 14 countries are where more than 100 Indians are lodged in jails.
However, this number can be high as the Ministry of External Affairs clarified that it is not possible to give detailed information about all matters due to the stringent privacy laws of many countries. Information is not shared in many countries unless the concerned prisoners allow.
21 Indians get killed in UAE The ministry said that 43 Indian citizens are facing death sentence in foreign jails. The maximum number of 21 are in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This is followed by Saudi Arabia (7), China (4), Indonesia (3), Yemen (1) and some other countries.
As of 15 July 2025, 28 Indian fishermen are closed in Sri Lankan jails. This issue is constantly being raised with the government of Sri Lanka on the basis of human and livelihood.
Recently, the Prime Minister also emphasized this during a meeting with the President of Sri Lanka. The government said that Indian missions are working to ensure legal aid to these prisoners, counselors access and timely release. A prisoner transfer treaty has also been done with many countries.
63% of prisoners increased in foreign jails in a decade The number of Indian prisoners in foreign jails has increased by 63% in the last decade. In 2016, 6,489 Indians were closed in foreign jails. Their number has increased to 10,574 in August 2025.
The most prisoners are in 6 Gulf countries. In 2016, there were 3,266 prisoners in the Gulf countries. These included 1653 in Saudi Arabia, 838 in UAE, 459 in Kuwait, 139 in Qatar, 109 in Oman, 68 in Bahrain. This number increased to 6,671 in 2025.
The government said that the Indian Community Welfare Fund is also active to help the prisoners. Through this, needy prisoners are given help.
