Appeal court judges in London have upheld a landmark ruling stating that dozens of Tamil asylum seekers were unlawfully detained on the remote island of Diego Garcia for more than three years.
In a judgment handed down on December 16, exactly one year after the initial Supreme Court finding all four grounds of an appeal brought by the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) Commissioner, Nishi Dholakia, were rejected. The court described the Commissioner's evidence as ‘a highly selective exercise’ and confirmed that the group of 64 individuals, including 16 children, had been held in conditions that amounted to a prison "in all but name".
The ordeal began in October 2021, when a boat carrying Tamil refugees fleeing persecution in Sri Lanka foundered in the Indian Ocean while attempting to reach Canada. Rescued by the Royal Navy, the group was taken to Diego Garcia, a highly restricted UK-US military base. For the next 38 months, the Tamils were confined to a fenced, guarded camp the size of a small cricket field, living in rat-infested tents. Acting Judge Margaret Obi’s original 2024 ruling, now vindicated, highlighted that the claimants were deprived of their liberty without legal justification. During their time on the island, the UNHCR reported arbitrary detention and noted frequent incidents of self-harm and hunger strikes among the vulnerable group.
The legal victory has significant financial implications for the British government, which now faces a potential compensation bill reaching into the millions of pounds. Legal representatives from Duncan Lewis and Leigh Day revealed that the detention of the Tamils cost UK taxpayers approximately £108,000 per day. Solicitors argued that these costs were exacerbated by shocking delays by the Home Office and Foreign Office in relocating the group. Most of the asylum seekers were finally transferred to the UK in December 2024 following a ‘one-off’ agreement, though a small number remained on the island at that time due to ongoing legal complexities.
This ruling arrives amidst a shifting political landscape for the Chagos Archipelago. In May 2025, the UK government signed a historic treaty to hand over sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius, while securing a 99-year lease to maintain the military base on Diego Garcia. However, the implementation of this deal has faced recent scrutiny from the Trump administration in the United States.