UK unlawfully held migrants on Diego Garcia, appeals court says

An appeals court has upheld a ruling that dozens of Sri Lankan migrants were unlawfully detained on the remote British territory of Diego Garcia in 2021.

A judge ruled last year that Tamils who sought asylum on the British Indian Ocean Territory (Biot) were illegally held in a small fenced-off camp described as an "open prison" for years.

Biot Commissioner Nishi Dholakia, who is based at the Foreign Office in London, appealed against it, arguing they were prevented for their own safety from entering the secretive UK-US military base located on the island.

But a Biot Court of Appeal, which includes five senior British judges, ruled in favour of the migrants, who now hope for compensation.

Tom Short, a solicitor from Leigh Day, who represents 39 of the migrants, called the court's decision a "full vindication of the judgment" made last year.

"We hope that this will be the end of the matter and that no further public money will be wasted... in trying to deny the reality that the Commissioner treated our vulnerable clients as prisoners," he added.

Sixty-four migrants, including 16 children, were housed in military tents in a fenced camp, which was guarded at all times by private security company G4S.

Tamils have described their time on the island as like living in "hell", with one woman telling the BBC it was like an "open prison".

All of the migrants were brought to the UK in December 2024, in what the government described as a "one-off" move in the interests of their welfare.

A site visit some months prior to the initial ruling saw rips in tents and rats nesting above the military cots given to the Tamils to use as beds.

There were multiple hunger strikes and numerous incidents of self-harm and suicide attempts over the conditions in the camp, after which some people were transferred to Rwanda for medical treatment.

There were also cases and allegations of sexual assault and harassment within the camp by other migrants, including against children.

Simon Robinson, a lawyer from Duncan Lewis who represents some of the migrants, said their detention cost UK taxpayers £108,000 a day, in additon to the "substantial damages which will now be owed".

Following the ruling that the detainment was unlawful, a UK government spokesperson said the island was never a "suitable long-term location for migrants".

They added that the current government "inherited a deeply troubling situation that remained unresolved under the last administration for years".

Diego Garcia is part of the Chagos Islands, or Biot, an area described as being "constitutionally distinct" from the UK.

They were part of the British colony of Mauritius until it gained independence in 1968. Mauritius has long argued it was forced to give the islands away in return for its independence. The UK evicted more than 1,000 Chagossians to make way for the joint military base.

The UK agreed to hand the islands over to Mauritius last year, in a controversial deal that would see it retain the base.

Additional reporting by Hafsa Khalil