Britain has offered dozens of stranded migrants, held for years in a camp on a secret British-American military island in the Indian Ocean, a temporary move to Romania.
After six months they could be moved to Great Britain. Others in the group are being offered financial incentives to go to Sri Lanka, where they say they face persecution, the BBC has learned.
In 2021, dozens of Tamils became the first people ever to seek asylum on Diego Garcia after their boat ran into trouble.
The area’s unusual status led to a long-running legal dispute, with the British government saying there was a risk of creating a “backdoor migration route” if they were brought to Britain.
The government has been approached for comment.
The offer to the migrants, made by British officials on the island on Tuesday, followed suit Britain announced that it would transfer sovereignty from the British Indian Ocean Territory (Biot), to which Diego Garcia belongs, to Mauritius. However, the military base remains on the island.
The BBC was given unprecedented access to Diego Garcia last month to attend a court hearing into whether the group had been unlawfully detained in a small gated camp, which is monitored by private security company G4S.
A ruling in the case is expected soon.
The British government has argued that the Biot refugee treaty is not in force because it is “constitutionally different” from Britain, although it is administered from the Foreign Office in London.
Instead, the Biot government set up a separate process to determine whether the Tamils could be returned to Sri Lanka or given international protection – which the UN says is akin to refugee status.
There are currently 59 Tamils left on Diego Garcia. About eight are currently in Rwanda after being transferred there for medical care following self-harm or suicide attempts.
Most migrants are awaiting decisions on their claims for international protection or appeals against denials. A total of eight have received international protection.
Over the summer, the top official managing the area, Paul Candler, called on the government to bring all migrants to Britain because of what he described as a “dangerous and intolerable situation” at 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 are becoming increasingly challenging”.
Speaking to migrants at the camp on Tuesday morning, Biot acting commissioner Nishi Dholakia said the British government had considered the Biot government’s earlier request but had instead decided to “make several offers to different individuals”.
“Some people will receive offers to go to another safe country and others will receive offers for voluntary return,” he said.
“I want to reassure you that this announcement does not mean anyone will leave the island immediately. You will all have time to consider the offer and next steps.”
Lawyers from British firms Leigh Day and Duncan Lewis, who are representing some of the migrants, said it was “imperative that the camp is 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 claims for international protection have been approved, as well as families in the camp with children, are being offered a transfer to a ‘safe centre’ run by the United Nations in Romania, while the British government continues to look for a “durable solution” – migrants told BBC.
They have been told they will stay at the center in Romania for up to six months.
“Within those six months, Britain will continue to develop a sustainable solution for you in accordance with international standards. You may choose to accept any solution offered to you during this period. If you do not wish to accept offers made during those six months have been done, months you will be taken to Britain,” say letters from the Biot government, seen by the BBC.
One man currently in Rwanda who has been offered the move to Romania described it as “a very big relief”. Another migrant there said it was the “happiest day in three years.”
Those whose protection applications have been rejected and who are not part of the family units within the camp have been offered financial incentives to return to Sri Lanka. According to a letter to migrants seen by the BBC, this includes £3,000, health insurance for three years, accommodation for up to three years, plus a job or education or training opportunities.
The BBC understands that those whose protection claims have not yet been approved have not yet exhausted all legal options. Lawyers representing the migrants are flying to Diego Garcia this week to meet with their clients.
“I haven’t eaten anything this morning. I feel very depressed,” said one of the Tamils who has been treated for mental illness in Rwanda and has now been allowed to return to Sri Lanka.
The first Tamils arrived on Diego Garcia in October 2021, saying they were fleeing persecution and trying to sail 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, diary entries and on-board GPS data.
More boats arrived in the following months.
When the BBC visited the camp last month, men and women lined up against the two-metre-high fence and stood outside their tents waving.
The camp consists of military tents with beige domes used as accommodation, and white humanitarian tents converted into makeshift communal areas and a church.
In one of the tents, where about five or six men sleep, a man lifted a panel above his bed, revealing a nest of rats.
‘Look, a leak. A rat hole,” said another, pointing urgently around his tent, where sheets and towels were hung to create different rooms.
The Tamils have been given green military camp beds to sleep on, but have piled wooden pallets and flat cardboard boxes on top of them in an attempt to make it more comfortable.
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Handwritten signs hang in the camp with slogans such as ‘We are being treated like animals in a cage’ and ‘This is a bad place’.
Some showed off their efforts to improve their living conditions, including a dining table made from pallets and planting beds lined with coconut husks.
An internal fence was recently installed dividing the camp between the single men there 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 judicial visit to the camp, a woman cried as she claimed her daughter had been attacked by another migrant in the tent, one of several claims of sexual assault.
Three men, each charged or convicted of crimes within the camp, are being held in a room next to the island’s police station.
Both United Nations and Red Cross representatives have previously expressed concerns about the use of the camp and its conditions.
After a visit late last year, the UN said the camp was “manifestly not suitable” for people to live there long-term and raised particular concerns about reported sexual attacks and harassment of children by other migrants.
The chapel where the court hearing took place normally functions as a school. In addition to children’s drawings, educational posters were taped to the walls, including a military tent with palm trees in the background.
There is accommodation for civilian contractors a short drive from the camp. Shops, bars, restaurants and leisure facilities such as a bowling alley and cinema are available to troops and contractors.
The Indian Ocean territory, hundreds of miles away from other populations, is seen as an important strategic base for the US.
Access to the island is heavily restricted and the island has long been shrouded in rumors and mystery. The British government has confirmed that two US rendition flights landed in 2002, but says the detainees did not leave the planes.
Lawyers for the British government earlier this year opposed the BBC being given access to the island to attend the hearing, but the Biot High Court ruled in favor of the BBC, saying that “justice must not only be done, but it must also be seen to be done”.
The US – which controls most of the personnel and resources at Diego Garcia – later said it would block access to the BBC and lawyers representing the migrants. It also said it would deny food, transport and accommodation to all those present at the hearing, including the British judge.
US and British authorities later allowed the hearing to go ahead, but with restrictions. Additional G4S officers were flown in to monitor the BBC and lawyers and ensure access to the island was restricted.
If they accept Tuesday’s offer, the stranded Tamils could face a 7,500-kilometer journey to Romania and more time in limbo, or return to Sri Lanka.
Standing next to her parents outside the courtroom last month, a 12-year-old girl said that ever since she saw a military plane fly over the camp, she had dreamed of becoming a pilot – so she too could fly away.
