British Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, has formally requested the Home Secretary, Yvetter Cooper, to grant asylum to over 60 Tamils who have been stranded on diego Garcia, the largest island in the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), since 2021.
The letter follows urgent calls on the government to take immediate action to put an end to the suffering of the asylum seekers, some of whom have made suicide attempts in recent weeks. In his letter, Lammy emphasised the urgent and escalating risk of harm, particularly to children among the detainees.
“The camp is in crisis. Sadly, news of the mass suicide attempt and self-harm is not surprising to those who are aware of the conditions there.During the bail hearing on 23rd July for members of the group represented by Leigh Day, Duncan Lewis, and Wilson Solicitors, the Court heard that the BIOT Commissioner accepts that the needs of children in the group cannot be sufficiently met in BIOT. The asylum seekers have told their lawyers that they cannot endure life on Diego Garcia anymore. Their daily protests had previously gone unheard and, losing all hope, many have resorted to self-harm"
Tessa Gregory, a partner at law firm Leigh Day, representing some of the Tamils told the Guardian.
A report released by the UN refugee agency has called for an “immediate relocation” of the 61 asylum seekers who have been stranded on the remote island for more than two years and have experienced violence, abuse, and arbitrary detention. The UNHCR also said the asylum seekers were held in a fenced-in area the size of a football pitch, guarded by G4S staff. They were not allowed to cook for themselves and had been bitten by rats, which were “ubiquitous” on the island, and had gnawed holes in their tents. Their movements were severely restricted and they were only recently permitted to leave the camp to go to a small beach area alongside the camp at designated times, under close supervision.
The Byline Times has also revealed that former British Prime Minister, Liz Truss, had proposed resettling a group of Tamil refugees stranded on Diego Garcia due to concerns of “mass suicide”.
Many of the asylum seekers, had pinned their hopes on a decision of the BIOT Supreme Court to hear their unlawful detention claim on Diego Garcia. Those hopes were destroyed after the hearing was vacated when the US made an intervention and said it would refuse to provide the Judge and the parties with logistical support, including water if they traveled to the island. "Two Leigh Day clients have made serious attempts to kill themselves in recent days in response to the cancellation of that hearing. They remain in a critical condition."
The asylum seekers, arrived on Diego Garcia on 3 October 2021 after they were rescued by two Royal Naval ships when their vessel fell into trouble in the Indian Ocean and allege they have been unlawfully detained since by the BIOT Commissioner. The asylum seekers cannot be returned to Sri Lanka because all individuals have outstanding claims for international protection, which the Commissioner accepts cannot be returned to Sri Lanka as it would constitute refoulement, in breach of international law.
"For almost three years our clients, among whom are 16 children, have been detained by the BIOT Commissioner in a fenced encampment of rat-infested tents guarded by G4S. Today the Commissioner has belatedly accepted the obvious: that this situation cannot go on any longer.
“In the face of multiple suicide attempts and grave offenses against children, it is incumbent on the UK Government to take decisive action to ensure our clients are relocated immediately. For years our clients have been deprived of the most modest of freedoms and the most basic of amenities all at great cost to the UK taxpayer and it is imperative that this desperate situation is brought to an end without any further delay.”
