Migrants trapped on a secret military island are promising to move to the UK

Migrants stranded for years on the remote Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia will be given the right to come to the UK, under a government proposal.

About 60 Sri Lankan Tamils ​​have spent more than three years in a makeshift camp on the island, which has a secret UK-US military base, after the first people ever applied for asylum there.

The government has been opposed to bringing the group to the UK and complex legal battles have been fought for years over their future.

In a letter written on Monday, government lawyers said that “following further consideration”, the government proposed a “policy change”.

Under this, “all families, children and their male companions who have no criminal charges, pending convictions or investigations will be given the opportunity to be transferred directly to the UK”.

It added that work on the application is “in progress” and a formal decision will be taken within 48 hours. “Details will be provided as soon as possible,” he said.

In a phone call with one of the Tamils, the official said the decision to bring them to the UK was due to the island's “unique circumstances”, adding that entry would be “short-term”.

The Prime Minister's spokesman told reporters at the daily press conference in Downing Street that “the government has found a very difficult situation that has not been resolved under the previous administration when it comes to migrants arriving in Diego Garcia. Diego Garcia has clearly never been a long-term destination for migrants”.

He added that “the government has been working to find a solution that protects their welfare and the integrity of Britain's territorial borders”.

Lawyers representing the Tamils ​​described the move as a “very welcome step” in the “long struggle for justice”.

“After three years of living under cruel conditions, I had to fight various injustices in the courts many times, the King's Government. [HMG] we have now decided that our clients must now come directly to the UK. We hope that HMG will now take urgent action to enforce this decision,” Simon Robinson of UK law firm Duncan Lewis told the BBC.

“Today's decision is a huge relief to our clients and we urge the Home Secretary to close the camp and bring our clients here without delay,” said Leigh Day lawyer Tom Short.

“It looks like a dream. I don't know what to think,” said one Tamilian after receiving a call from the official with the news.

The UK had previously offered one of the group temporary relocation to Romania and the opportunity to come to the UK. Some were given money to encourage them to return to Sri Lanka.

The latest development comes after the UK announced last month that it gave sovereignty to the British Indian Ocean Territory (Biot), which included Diego Garcia, Mauritius.. The military base, however, will remain on the island.

Under a separate deal last month, future migrants arriving in Biot before the deal with Mauritius came into force will be transferred to the island of St Helena – another UK territory 5,000 miles away.

In court on Monday, lawyers said three people convicted of crimes could 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 will determine whether the Tamils ​​were illegally detained.

During the visit, the migrants entered the courthouse passing the tents where the soldiers had been living, pointing out dampness, tears in the canvas, excrement and a nest of rats above one of the beds.

In the past three years, there have been many hunger strikes on the island, as well as many self-harm incidents and suicide attempts after which some people were transferred to Rwanda for medical treatment.

“I have been in prison for three years. Now they are releasing me but I don't know what to do. I feel empty,” said one man in Rwanda.

“I am very happy because I am coming to the UK. I thought they were going to send me to another country.”

The group consists of 16 children. Most are awaiting final decisions on applications for international protection – which the United Nations says are similar to refugee status – or challenging rejection. In total, eight have been granted international protection.