London law firm Leigh Day has spoken of its relief after a court of appeal in the Indian Ocean allowed its clients, detained Tamil asylum seekers, to ‘exercise modest freedoms’.

Tom Short, a solicitor at Leigh Day which represents 28 of the asylum seekers held in a detention camp on Diego Garcia, an island in the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), urged the government to ‘act now and urgently put an end to this ongoing and unsustainable humanitarian crisis’.

The British Indian Ocean Territory Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal brought by the commissioner for the BIOT against an order of the BIOT Supreme Court which permitted asylum seekers currently on Diego Garcia a ‘limited degree of conditional freedom of movement’.

The group of asylum seekers was brought to the island after being rescued by the Royal Navy in 2021. Some have left the island voluntarily. Those who remain claimed international protection from the UK.

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Short: 'Ongoing and unsustainable humanitarian crisis'

The group, which includes children, are held in a fenced compound under guard. Leigh Day says the camp is ‘vermin infested and the group live in communal tents with scant protection from severe weather conditions’.

Sir Howard Morrison, Mr Justice Clive Lane and Mr Justice Nigel Bird, sitting in the BIOT CoA, dismissed the commissioner's appeal, adding: ‘We wish to record our very serious concern regarding the welfare of all the migrants on Diego Garcia and, in particular, the children.’

Short said: 'It is unconscionable that the commissioner has for so long denied our clients this modest grant of freedom, whilst accepting that the detention camp is in complete crisis and that daily harm is being inflicted on our clients.

‘Despite their success, our clients will continue to be held indefinitely in squalid conditions on this remote island. The Court of Appeal is absolutely right to express serious concerns for our clients’ wellbeing. We implore the new government to act now and urgently put an end to this ongoing and unsustainable humanitarian crisis on this British-run territory.’

 

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