BBC
“We are treated like caged animals,” says a protest sign from Tamil migrants, who cannot be identified for legal reasons.
The United Kingdom has offered dozens of stranded migrants, held for years in a camp on a secret Anglo-American military island in the Indian Ocean, a temporary transfer to Romania.
After six months they could be transferred to the UK. Other members of the group are being offered financial incentives to travel to Sri Lanka, where they say they face persecution, the BBC has learned.
In 2021, dozens of Tamils became the first to seek asylum in Diego Garcia after their boat encountered problems.
The territory's unusual status led to a lengthy legal dispute, with the British government saying bringing them to Britain risked creating a “diverted migration route”.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said ministers were working to find a solution that protects the welfare of migrants and “the integrity of Britain's territorial borders”.
Relocating the most vulnerable migrants while their legal claims are processed would provide them with “greater security and well-being”, the spokesperson said.
The offer to migrants by British officials on the island on Tuesday came after the UK announced it was handing over sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory (Biot), which includes Diego Garcia, to Mauritius . The military base will, however, remain on the island.
The BBC was granted unprecedented access to Diego Garcia last month to attend a court hearing to determine whether the group had been illegally detained in a small, fenced-in camp, guarded by private security firm G4S.
A judgment in this case is expected soon.
The British government has argued that the refugee convention is not in force in Biot because that country is “constitutionally distinct” from the United Kingdom, although it is administered from the Foreign Office in London.
Instead, Biot's administration set up a separate process to determine whether Tamils could be returned to Sri Lanka or given international protection – which the UN says is akin to the status of refugee.
There are currently 56 Tamils in Diego Garcia. Eight others are currently in Rwanda after being transferred there for medical treatment after self-harming or attempting suicide.
Most migrants are awaiting a decision on their application for international protection or appealing a refusal. In total, eight have been granted international protection.
Over the summer, the territory's top official, Paul Candler, called on the government to return all migrants to the UK due to what he described as a “dangerous and unsustainable situation” in the camp amid mass incidents of self-harm.
Mr Candler resigned a month later, saying in a resignation letter obtained by the BBC that he found “the migrant situation increasingly difficult” and “the personal leadership demands this places on me increasingly more difficult.”
Addressing migrants in the camp on Tuesday morning, Acting Biot Commissioner Nishi Dholakia said the British government had considered the Biot administration's earlier request but decided to “make different offers to different people “.
“Some people will receive offers to go to another safe country and others will receive an offer to return voluntarily,” he explained.
“I want to reassure you that this announcement does not mean that anyone will leave the island immediately. You will all have time to consider the offer and the next steps.”
Lawyers from British law firms Leigh Day and Duncan Lewis, representing some migrants, said it was “imperative that the camp be closed without delay” and that the British government “finds a viable long-term solution for all individuals and families “. .
Migrants – both on the island and in Rwanda – whose applications for international protection have been approved, as well as camp families with children, will be offered a transfer to a UN-run “safe centre” in Romania while the British government continues to seek a “lasting solution”, migrants told the BBC.
They were told they would stay at the center in Romania for up to six months.
“During these six months, the UK will continue to develop a sustainable solution for you that meets international standards. You may choose to accept any solution presented to you during this period. If you do not wish to accept any offer made to the “during these six months, months, you will be brought to the United Kingdom,” say letters from Biot's administration, seen by the BBC.
One man, currently in Rwanda, who was offered a move to Romania, described it as “a very big relief”. Another migrant said it was “the happiest day in three years”.
Those whose requests for protection have been rejected and who are not part of the family units in the camp have been offered financial incentives to return to Sri Lanka. According to a letter to migrants, seen by the BBC, this will include £3,000, medical insurance for three years, accommodation for up to three years, as well as employment or training or education opportunities.
The BBC understands that those whose applications for protection have not been approved have not yet exhausted all legal avenues. Lawyers representing the migrants are scheduled to travel to Diego Garcia this week to meet with their clients.
“I haven't eaten anything since morning. I feel very depressed,” said one of the Tamils who was treated for a mental health problem in Rwanda and offered to return to Sri Lanka.
The first Tamils arrived in Diego Garcia in October 2021, saying they were fleeing persecution and trying to get to Canada to seek asylum when their boat ran into trouble and they were rescued by the Royal Navy. Their account was supported by maps, log entries and GPS data on board.
In the following months, other boats arrived.
Men, women and children are housed in khaki tents, but some leak and rats nest inside.
When the BBC visited the camp last month, men and women lined up against the six-foot fence and stood outside their tents waving.
The camp is made up of beige-domed military tents used for accommodation and white humanitarian tents converted into makeshift common rooms and a church.
Inside one of the tents, where about five or six men sleep, a man lifted a panel above his bed to reveal a rats' nest.
“Look, a leak. A rat hole,” said another, pointing urgently to his tent, where sheets and towels were hung to create different rooms.
The Tamils were given green military cots to sleep on, but they stacked wooden pallets and flattened cardboard boxes on top to try to make them more comfortable.
Handwritten signs hang around the camp with slogans such as “We are treated like caged animals” and “This is a bad place.”
Some showed their efforts to improve their living conditions, including a dining table made of pallets and plant beds lined with coconut husks.
Recently, an interior fence was erected to divide the camp between single men and families.
An independent social worker hired by one of the migrants' lawyers described the situation in the camp late last year as an “emerging mental health pandemic.”
Outside the courtroom, men, women and children showed me signs of self-harm.
During the court's visit to the camp, a woman cried as she claimed her daughter had been assaulted by another migrant in the tent, one of several allegations of sexual assault.
Three men, who have each been charged or convicted of offenses committed within the camp, are being held in a room next to the island's police station.
Handout
Packed onto their boat, the Marayan, some Tamils intended to travel to Canada and seek asylum.
Representatives of the United Nations and the Red Cross have previously raised concerns about the use of the camp and its conditions.
After a visit late last year, the UN said the camp was “clearly not suitable” for people to live there long-term and expressed particular concerns about sexual assault and harassment children by other migrants.
The chapel which hosted the court hearing normally functions as a school. Educational posters were plastered on the walls alongside children's drawings, one of which depicted a military tent with palm trees in the background.
A short drive from the camp there is accommodation for civilian contractors. Shops, bars, restaurants and leisure facilities, such as bowling and a cinema, are available to troops and contractors.
The Indian Ocean territory, located hundreds of kilometers from any other population, is considered an important strategic base for the United States.
Access to the island is heavily restricted and it has long been shrouded in rumor and mystery. The British government confirmed that two American rendition flights landed there in 2002, but says the detainees did not leave the planes.
Getty Images
The island is under high security due to the Anglo-American military base
Earlier this year, British government lawyers objected to the BBC being able to access the island to attend the hearing, but the Supreme Court in Biot ruled in favor of the BBC, saying “justice must not only be rendered, but must also be seen as such.”
The United States – which controls most of Diego Garcia's staff and resources – later said it would block access to the BBC and lawyers representing the migrants. He also said he would deny food, transportation and accommodation to everyone present at the hearing, including the British judge.
U.S. and British authorities later allowed the hearing to go ahead, but with restrictions in place. Additional G4S officers were dispatched to monitor the BBC and lawyers and ensure access to the island was restricted.
If they accept Tuesday's offer, the stranded Tamils may have to travel 7,500 kilometers to Romania and spend more time in limbo, or return to Sri Lanka.
Last month, standing outside the courtroom alongside her parents, a 12-year-old girl said that ever since she saw a military plane pass over the camp, she dreamed of becoming a pilot – so she could she too will fly away.
