By Jacob Goldberg*
The New Humanitarian issued this article, and it is being republished with their permission.
BANGKOK | 6 December 2024 (IDN) — Dozens of Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers arrived in the UK this week, ending a three-year legal battle to avoid being deported by British authorities from Diego Garcia, a British-held militarised island in the Indian Ocean.
The asylum seekers arrived on Diego Garcia in October 2021, after their boat faltered nearby, and were rescued by British forces on the island. Hundreds more arrived by boat in the following months, most of whom accepted voluntary repatriation. But a core group of the initial arrivals remained on Diego Garcia, housed in rat-infested tents in a guarded camp, hoping to claim asylum in a safe country.
Many members of the group say they faced persecution in Sri Lanka because of their ethnic Tamil backgrounds.
For their first six weeks on Diego Garcia—part of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) —the group were held incommunicado, prompting a mass hunger strike. Dozens have also attempted suicide to protest the deplorable conditions on the island and efforts by the BIOT authorities to repatriate them to Sri Lanka or India.
Several were transferred to Rwanda for medical treatment in March 2023 following suicide attempts and remained there until being brought to the UK this week.
Following a series of legal actions in UK courts, lawyers for the government announced in November that all of the asylum seekers—excluding a handful who have been charged with crimes on the island—would be brought to the UK.
“We are very happy that you are all going to travel to the UK this evening,” a UK government official told the group in Rwanda shortly before their flight.
He added that their admission to the UK was the result of an “exception” made by government ministers based on their circumstances, and no future arrivals on Diego Garcia would be allowed into the UK. Instead, they would be brought to Saint Helena, another British Overseas Territory, or repatriated.
“This is a one-off,” the official said, according to a recording reviewed by The New Humanitarian.
The camp where the asylum seekers stayed on Diego Garcia has been disassembled by American forces, the official said. The US shares the island’s military base with the UK.
One asylum seeker told The New Humanitarian she planned to celebrate 3 December every year as her “independence day”.
“I can go outside, walking, running anywhere. No one asks me anything, like, ‘Why are you going, where are you going.’ No military control,” she said, shortly after arriving in London.
The group has received permission to stay in the UK for six months. Those who wish to stay longer must apply for permission within the initial six months, according to documents shared with the group by the UK government, seen by The New Humanitarian.
Eight members of the group have been granted international protection by the UK, meaning they cannot be forcibly sent to their countries of origin. Some are appealing rejections of their bids for international protection, while most are still awaiting decisions by British authorities.
*Jacob Goldberg is Staff Editor and Reporter, Investigations. [IDN-InDepthNews]
Image: Diego Garcia. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
