The UN agency for refugees said it’s not good for migrants to stay in a faraway place in the Indian Ocean with a secret UK-US military base. They got permission to visit and saw that it’s not a good place for migrants to stay for a long time.
Many Sri Lankan Tamils have been stuck for more than two years in a temporary camp on Diego Garcia.
This is the first time people have asked for asylum in this place.
The UK government said it was searching for a “solution that will last a long time”.
“The health and safety of migrants is the most important thing. ” The spokesperson said that the top importance of the British Indian Ocean Territory administration is to make sure it stays safe and well-managed. The official name of the islands is British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT).
UNHCR people went to Diego Garcia near the end of 2023 with help from the UK government. They were allowed to go to the island for the first time since the migrants arrived over two years ago.
The UN agency said it was “checking with officials” about what it had found.
A person speaking for the military said that Diego Garcia is an island with a military base and almost no people living there. It’s not a good place for people to live for a long time.
“We want the UK to fairly and quickly decide on the pending claims and help those who need international protection, following the rules of international law. ”
The first group of Tamils arrived on Diego Garcia in October 2021 because their boat got into trouble while they were trying to sail to Canada, as told by the migrants and officials.
The island is far away from other people, and unauthorized visitors are not allowed.
The group’s later requests for protection were the first ever to be made in Biot. This area is said to be different from the UK and the Refugee Convention does not apply there.
Many people in the group say they are connected to the old Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka. The rebels lost in the war that ended in 2009. They also say they have been treated badly because of this.
Hunger protest
Asylum seekers say the conditions on the island are very bad, but because of the island’s unique laws, they are stuck in a difficult situation.
Many people have tried to hurt or kill themselves. Lawyers say children have also gone on hunger strikes.
Our lives are boring and dull. “I feel like I am just existing, not really living,” a man told the media.
Attorneys helping people seeking safety on Diego Garcia say there are still around 60 people on the island. Many people have been moved to Rwanda for help after trying to end their own lives.
The media was made knows that this agreement is different from the government’s plan to send some asylum seekers to an East African country. This plan passed an important step in Parliament this week.
“Our clients have been stuck on Diego Garcia for more than two years and still haven’t had their requests for international protection approved,” explained Tessa Gregory, one of the group’s lawyers.
The things they are going through. The conditions are really bad and not at all good for a group that has children and people who have been through torture and sexual violence.
Ms Gregory said that British lawyers representing the migrants want to go to the island.
Five people have been given permission to stay in another country, but we don’t know yet where they will go.
The government is helping other countries accept people who cannot go back to their own country safely.
The government has said to the BBC that they take all claims of mistreatment very seriously and look into them completely.