Handout documentsMigrants stranded for years on the remote Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia would be granted access to the UK, under government proposals.
About 60 Sri Lankan Tamils have spent more than three years in a makeshift camp on the island, home to a secret Anglo-American military base, after becoming the first to apply for asylum there .
The government has previously opposed bringing the group to the UK and complex legal battles have raged for years over their fate.
In a letter Monday, government lawyers said that “after further review,” the government proposed “a change in policy.”
Accordingly, “all families, children and unaccompanied men with no criminal record, charges or outstanding investigations will have the opportunity to be transferred directly to the UK”.
It added that work on the offer remains “ongoing” and a formal decision will be made within 48 hours. “Detailed information will be provided as soon as possible,” it said.
In a phone call with one of the Tamils, an official said the decision to bring them to the UK was due to the “exceptional circumstances” of the island, adding that entry would only be for “a period of time.” short time”.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman told reporters at the daily Downing Street press conference that “the government has inherited a deeply worrying situation that remained unresolved under the previous administration when it involved regarding the migrants who arrived in Diego Garcia. Diego Garcia has clearly never been a suitable long-term location for migrants.”
He added “the government is working hard to find a solution that protects their welfare and the integrity of the UK’s borders”.
Lawyers representing Tamils described the move as a “very welcome step” in a “long fight for justice”.
“After three years of living in inhumane conditions, having to fight many injustices in court many times, Her Majesty’s Government has [HMG] It has now been decided that our customers will now come directly to the UK. We hope that HMG will take urgent steps to give effect to this decision,” Simon Robinson of British law firm Duncan Lewis told the BBC.
Leigh Day’s lawyer Tom Short said: “Today’s decision is a huge relief to our client and we call on the Home Secretary to close the camp and bring our client in without There must be no further delay.”
“It looks like a dream. I don’t know what to think,” said a Tamilian after receiving a call from an official with the news.
The UK had previously offered some of the group a temporary move to Romania with the possibility of later going to the UK. Others were offered financial incentives to return to Sri Lanka.
The latest development comes after the UK announced last month that it is handing sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory (Biot), which includes Diego Garcia, to Mauritius. However, the military base will remain on the island.
Under a separate deal last month, future migrants arriving at Biot before the deal with Mauritius comes into force will be transferred to the island of St Helena – another UK territory about 5,000 miles away.
In court on Monday, lawyers said three people with criminal records could be sent to the island of Montserrat – a British territory in the Caribbean – to serve their sentences.
The BBC was recently granted unprecedented access to Diego Garcia to attend a trial to determine whether Tamils were detained illegally.
During the visit, the migrants walked around the courthouse past the military tents they were living in, pointing out damp spots, tears in the tarp, feces and a rat’s nest above one of the beds.
Over the past three years, there have been many hunger strikes on the island, as well as many incidents of self-harm and suicide attempts, after which some people were transferred to Rwanda for medical care.
“I was locked in a cage for three years. Now they let me out but I don’t know what to do. I feel a bit empty,” said a man in Rwanda.
“I am very happy to be able to come to the UK. I thought they were going to send me to another country.”
The group includes 16 children. Most are waiting for a final decision on a request for international protection – which the United Nations considers akin to refugee status – or an appeal against a refusal. A total of eight have been granted international protection.
