UK territory accused of ‘unfair’ asylum screening after Tamil deportation U-turn
For those who have stayed on the island, the years-long wait for a decision on their future has left many in a state of poor mental health.All said they were fleeing persecution by Sri Lankan and Indian authorities, and some said they had been tortured and sexually abused by Sri Lankan or Indian security forces for alleged links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) – a separatist group that fought for independence during a 26-year-civil war against the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lankan government. By July 2022, 173 asylum seekers were being held on the island, but after being told they would have no opportunity to seek asylum in the UK, most left. Some accepted payment from the UK to voluntarily return to Sri Lanka by plane, while others set out by boat to seek asylum on the French island of Réunion. For those who have stayed on the island, the years-long wait for a decision on their future has left many in a state of poor mental health, according to a UK court judgement issued in March. Several have alleged bullying by G4S security guards, and there have been at least two reported incidents of sexual assault in the camp where they are being housed. At least five have also tried to kill themselves by swallowing sharp objects, the judgement said. G4S declined to comment on the allegations of bullying, saying: “G4S treats the migrants on the island with dignity and respect at all times.” As part of their court argument, lawyers also cited comments made in March 2022 by the UK’s then-foreign secretary, Liz Truss, who said that because of the lack of facilities on Diego Garcia and “a credible threat of mass suicide… processing the group in the UK represents the only option”. Truss, still a member of the UK parliament, did not respond to questions about her previous statements.
Lost in translation
The UK considers BIOT to be a separate legal jurisdiction where the 1951 Refugee Convention, and by extension other rights asylum seekers enjoy in the UK, do not apply. These rights include allowing asylum seekers to respond to any findings that could lead to their deportation. Following interviews with interpreters in 2021 and immigration officers in 2022, the asylum seekers on Diego Garcia were not given this opportunity, Gregory said.The group on Diego Garcia have also been denied funding that is usually available to asylum seekers in the UK.For instance, arguments submitted by the asylum seekers’ lawyers to the court said the commissioner concluded that one woman’s account was not credible because she claimed she would be a single female head of household if sent to Sri Lanka. “Had the Commissioner put this to [her], she would have explained she was separated from her husband, her uncle was dead, and there was no other male relative who could be expected to support her,” the lawyers said in arguments submitted to the court. The group on Diego Garcia have also been denied funding that is usually available to asylum seekers in the UK. The funding, known as legal aid, would have allowed the group to produce evidence to corroborate their accounts of persecution in Sri Lanka, such as medical reports, and to correct translation errors that led to their claims being rejected. “We found that there were massive issues with the interpreters that they used,” Gregory told The New Humanitarian. In one instance, the commissioner rejected the claim of an asylum seeker who had said a photograph of his mother had been published by Sri Lankan media in 2015 and 2021. The commissioner interpreted this as an inconsistency, but according to the lawyers, “the transcript shows that [he] clearly explained that his mother’s photograph appeared twice, once in a newspaper in 2015, and once on television in 2021”. In June 2022, the lawyers expressed concerns over previous translation errors and requested audio recordings of their clients’ interviews, as well as legal aid, but Candler denied these requests. The FCDO spokesperson did not respond to questions about why these requests were denied.