The UK government has agreed to offer Tamil asylum seekers who have been stranded on Diego Garcia a temporary move to Romania, just days after it agreed to transfer sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) to Mauritius.
After six months of stay in Romania, the Tamil asylum seekers could potentially be transferred over to the UK, a request that they have made for years.
There are currently 56 Tamils still on Diego Garcia, a remote island in the Indian Ocean that hosts a large US-UK military base. Five of the asylum seekers are currently in Rwanda for medical treatment.
The UK government had previously refused to allow the asylum seekers into the UK, insisting that BIOT did not provide a direct route for migrants seeking asylum in Britain. However, according to letters shared with the asylum seekers by BIOT and the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), they have now been offered the possibility of relocating to the UK after spending six months in an UN-run transit center in Romania.
"Within those six months, the UK will continue to develop a durable solution for you in line with international standards. You can choose to accept any solution presented to you during this time. If you do not wish to accept any offers made during those six months, you will be brought to the UK," letters from the BIOT administration, seen by the BBC, say.
"Some people will receive offers to go to another safe country and others will receive an offer for voluntary return," said BIOT’s acting commissioner Nishi Dholakia. However the Tamils, who still face persecution in Sri Lanka, have persistently declined offers to return to the island.
"I want to reassure you that this announcement does not mean anyone will be leaving the island immediately,” added Dholakia. “You will all have time to consider the offer and next steps."
The situation in Diego Garcia has become increasingly dire, with the asylum seekers enduring deteriorating living conditions, mental health crises, and allegations of abuse.
The offer follows a request made in July by Paul Candler, then-commissioner of BIOT, to bring all 64 asylum seekers to the UK due to the worsening situation, including multiple suicide attempts among the group. However, the UK government has instead chosen to provide different options to different groups, with some being offered relocation to other countries or voluntary return to Sri Lanka, while others, like Krishnamoorthi, have been given the chance to move to the UK.
The group of Tamils fled in October 2021, attempting to reach Canada to claim asylum before their boat came into trouble near Diego Garcia. The UN refugee agency UNHCR had released a damning report finding violence, abuse and arbitrary detention of the migrants in Diego Garcia. Allegations of sexual abuse against women and children were also presented to the UN inspectors. The UN report called for "immediate relocation" due to concerns of safety. Many of them are Tamil, fleeing persecution by Sri Lankan authorities, including allegations of torture and sexual abuse.
Earlier this year in April, the British Supreme Court had ruled in favour of Eelam Tamil children held in Diego Garcia and found that key protections in the UK's Children's Act also applied to them.
The decision to admit some of the asylum seekers comes at a time of political change, as the UK finalises an agreement to cede control of BIOT to Mauritius. Under this deal, Mauritius will take responsibility for any future migrants who arrive on the islands, effectively shutting down the possibility of the Indian Ocean becoming a route for illegal migration to the UK. The impact of this handover on the remaining asylum seekers is yet to be determined.
For the Tamils though, the news came as "a very big relief," according to one of the men in Rwanda. Another migrant there told the BBC it was the "happiest day in three years".
