EXCLUSIVE: UK agrees to admit some Diego Garcia asylum seekers

The UK government has offered to accept at least six Sri Lankan asylum seekers who were stranded for years on Diego Garcia, according to interviews with two of them and government documents seen by The New Humanitarian. Five are currently receiving medical treatment in Rwanda, while the sixth is still on the remote Indian Ocean island.

The offers, which came just as Britain agreed to transfer sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) to Mauritius, mark a departure from previous statements by UK officials that none of the asylum seekers on the island would be admitted to the UK. 

As part of the deal, the asylum seekers would be required to spend six months in a transit centre in Romania run by the UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, according to letters shared with the asylum seekers by the BIOT administration and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). If they choose not to accept any other “durable solution” offers during those six months, they will be brought to the UK, the letters said, without spelling out what they might be.

Both of the asylum seekers who spoke to The New Humanitarian, who are currently in Rwanda receiving medical treatment, have previously reported feeling unsafe in the country, saying they have been harassed and attacked by strangers. 

One of the asylum seekers, Hamshika Krishnamoorthi, said she planned to accept the UK’s offer. “This offer is better than living in Rwanda,” she said.

In a call with James Thornton, head of the BIOT administration migrants team on 8 October, Krishnamoorthi asked about the purpose of the six-month stay in Romania.

“The UK Government has always been clear that coming to BIOT does not provide a direct route to the UK,” Thornton said, according to a recording of the call reviewed by The New Humanitarian. “Travelling to the UNHCR centre in Romania will be the quickest option for you to leave BIOT while the UK identifies a durable solution. However, you will not be forced to accept any such options.”

The offers follow a request in July by Paul Candler, then-commissioner of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), to bring all 64 of the asylum seekers on Diego Garcia to the UK in response to a spiraling mental health crisis among the group and rampant suicide attempts.

On 8 October, BIOT Acting Commissioner Nishi Dholakia informed the asylum seekers about the government’s decision for the rest of the group.

“The UK government has decided to make different offers to different individuals and groups among you,” he said, according to a recording of the call reviewed by The New Humanitarian.

“Some people will receive offers to relocate to another safe country, and others will receive an offer for voluntary return,” he said. “We ask that you do not try and guess what your offer will be.”

Once the asylum seekers have received their offer from the BIOT authorities, those with legal representation will be able to consult with their lawyers, who are expected to arrive on Diego Garcia on 9 October, Dholakia said. But those receiving medical treatment “for self harm or for another reason”, he added, would not be able to meet with their lawyers.

“I want to reassure you that this announcement does not mean that anyone will be leaving [the] island immediately,” he said. “Once you’ve received your offer, we ask that you consider carefully your next steps.”

Children on the island would have to be approved by a UK court before leaving, he said.

The FCDO declined to answer questions about the offer to bring some of the asylum seekers to the UK.

“We have been working at pace to find practical solutions which protect the welfare of the migrants and the integrity of British territorial borders,” a spokesperson said.

The New Humanitarian shared questions with UNHCR about its role in negotiating the deal and the purpose of the proposed six-month stay in their facility. The agency did not respond in time for publication.

Government under pressure

Diego Garcia, BIOT’s largest island, hosts a large US-UK military facility and has no permanent population.

Hundreds of Sri Lankan asylum seekers arrived on the island starting in October 2021, when British forces rescued a boat carrying 89 people that broke down nearby. Most chose to be repatriated rather than wait indefinitely in the fenced camp provided by the local authorities, but 64 remain in the care of the BIOT administration, hoping to claim asylum in the UK or elsewhere.

Many of the asylum seekers have provided authorities with evidence that they faced persecution, torture, or sexual abuse at the hands of Sri Lankan security forces because of their Tamil ethnicity.

In late 2022, while processing the group’s asylum applications, Candler, BIOT’s then-commissioner, changed the territory’s law to allow members of the group to be forcibly transported to countries other than their country of origin. 

“If my decision is that you cannot be safely returned to Sri Lanka, the policy of the UK government is that you will not be taken to the UK,” he said at the time. “The law of the British Indian Ocean Territory is being changed to allow us to take you to a safe third country instead.”

But years later, the UK has not been able to find another country to accept them. As of last month, BIOT authorities had rejected 13 asylum applications and accepted eight, including some of those who were recently offered the deal to enter the UK. The rest have not received decisions. 

Conditions in the asylum seekers’ fenced encampment on Diego Garcia have deteriorated over the years. An inspection by UNHCR in February noted a rat infestation, reports of sexual assault among the asylum seeker group, and little freedom of movement. The agency said the group was being arbitrarily detained and called for their urgent relocation.

A UK judge visited Diego Garcia last month to hold a trial on whether the BIOT authorities are detaining the group illegally. A decision, which could potentially grant the asylum seekers access to large parts of the heavily militarised island, is expected this month.

In July, following years of intermittent hunger strikes and suicide attempts among the group, Candler asked the UK’s newly elected Labour government to admit families with children into the UK. Foreign Secretary David Lammy relayed the request to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper on 16 July, The Guardian reported.

After learning of that request and fearing they would be left behind, 22 unaccompanied men on the island attempted suicide. Candler then requested that the entire group be brought to the UK.

In late August, the BIOT administration and the FCDO requested permission from at least some of the asylum seekers, through their lawyers, to share their personal information with the Home Office.

“The Home Office has stated that it needs this information to consider the request to transfer your clients to the UK,” said a letter from the BIOT administration and the FCDO to the asylum seekers’ lawyers, seen by The New Humanitarian.

A spokesperson from the Home Office did not respond to questions about the group in time for publication.

Mauritius handover

The two asylum seekers in Rwanda learned of the UK’s offer to accept them on the same day that the British government announced it would cede sovereignty of BIOT – also known as the Chagos Islands – to Mauritius, following years of negotiations. The agreement between the two countries will allow the UK and the United States to keep their base on Diego Garcia for at least 99 years.

“Diego Garcia has also seen a small number of vulnerable migrants arrive since 2021, subsequently launching asylum claims,” said a recent UK government press release. “The agreement will shut down any possibility of the Indian Ocean being used as a dangerous illegal migration route to the UK, with Mauritius taking responsibility for any future arrivals.”

It remains unclear how the handover will affect the asylum seekers already on Diego Garcia. 

The agreement allows Mauritius to bring native Chagossians back to the islands. The UK expelled the Chagossians from the islands in the 1960s and 1970s to make way for the military base on Diego Garcia. Most ended up in the UK, Mauritius, or the Seychelles.

“Mauritius will now be free to implement a programme of resettlement on the islands of the Chagos Archipelago,” said a 3 October joint statement by the UK and Mauritius, “other than Diego Garcia.”

If you are in crisis, click here to find a helpline near you (via the International Association for Suicide Prevention).

Edited by Andrew Gully.