INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Migrants stranded for years on the remote Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia will be offered the right to come to the UK, under a
government proposal.Around 60 Sri Lankan Tamils have spent more than three years in a makeshift camp on the island, which hosts a secretive
UK-US military base, after becoming the first people ever to file asylum claims there.The government has previously opposed bringing the
group to the UK and complex legal battles have been fought for years over their fate.In a letter on Monday, government lawyers said that
unaccompanied males who do not have criminal convictions, outstanding charges or investigations would be offered the opportunity to be
situation that remained unresolved under the previous administration when it came to migrants who had arrived at Diego Garcia
group a temporary move to Romania with the possibility of then coming to the UK
Others were offered financial incentives to return to Sri Lanka.The latest development comes after the UK announced last month that it was
handing sovereignty of British Indian Ocean Territory (Biot), which includes Diego Garcia, to Mauritius
The military base, however, will remain on the island.Under a separate deal last month, future migrants arriving on Biot before the
arrangement with Mauritius comes into force will be transferred to the island of St Helena - another UK territory some 5,000 miles away.In
court on Monday, lawyers said three people with criminal convictions may be sent to the island of Montserrat - a British territory in the
Caribbean - to serve their sentences.The BBC was recently granted unprecedented access to Diego Garcia to attend a court hearing, which is
set to determine whether the Tamils had been unlawfully detained.During the visit, the migrants walked the court through military tents they
there have been multiple hunger strikes on the island, and numerous incidents of self-harm and suicide attempts after which some people have
Most are awaiting final decisions on claims for international protection - which the United Nations says is akin to refugee status - or
appealing against rejections
In total, eight have been granted international protection.Source: BBC--Agencies
