Sri Lankan Tamil migrants who have been stranded for more than three years on the remote Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia have been brought to the UK.
The group will receive financial support from the Foreign Office and are permitted to remain in the country for six months, documents show.
Their arrival marks the end of years of complex legal battles over their fate, though their long-term future remains uncertain.
Around 60 migrants, including 16 children, have been living in a makeshift camp on Diego Garcia, one of the Chagos Islands, since October 2021 – when they became the first people ever to file asylum claims there – according to the BBC.
The Chagos Islands were discussed in Parliament earlier this week
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The Tamils were reportedly housed in military tents. The conditions were dire, with leaking tents and rats nesting inside the temporary accommodation.
The camp was situated on Crown land at the site of a strategic UK-US military base.
A Government spokesperson described the move as a “one-off, due to the exceptional nature of these cases and in the interests of their welfare”.
“This Government inherited a deeply troubling situation that remained unresolved under the last administration for years,” the spokesperson added.
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Fuel tanks at the edge of a military airstrip on Diego Garcia, largest island in the Chagos ReutersTessa Gregory of UK law firm Leigh Day, which represents some of the migrants, welcomed the decision.
She said it was the “only sensible solution to end the humanitarian crisis” on the island, adding: “This vulnerable group which includes 16 children have spent 38 months detained in the most squalid of conditions on Crown land… we hope our clients will now be able to seek safe haven and begin to rebuild their lives.”
During their time on the island, there were multiple hunger strikes and numerous incidents of self-harm and suicide attempts.
Some migrants were transferred to Rwanda for medical treatment following these incidents. There were also allegations of sexual assaults and harassment within the camp.
The government has made arrangements to prevent future migration through this route, with any new arrivals to be sent to St Helena – another UK territory 5,000 miles away.
Once sovereignty is transferred to Mauritius, that nation will handle future migrant cases.