Tamil refugees in tropical island nightmare

Refugees on Diego Garcia - 10th July 2023

Nearly 100 Tamils from Sri Lanka have been on an island for almost two years. They're on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. In October 2021, British sailors saved the 89 refugees from their boat, which was in danger near the island.

The Tamil refugees say that they're in danger in Sri Lanka. They were trying to sail to Canada. But bad weather took their boat off course. Later, two more boats were rescued, and a total of 173 Tamil refugees were on the island.

The refugees are in a closed camp on the British Indian Ocean Territory. They don't know when they can leave. The island's a US-UK military base and this makes things difficult. Britain signed the United Nations Refugee Convention, but it doesn't include this military base.

Diego Garcia has no schools and limited medical resources. When refugees are seriously unwell, they're flown to Rwanda for treatment. Some refugees decided to return to the dangers of Sri Lanka. One boat of refugees sailed from Diego Garcia to the French island of Reunion.

On Diego Garcia, 60 refugees went on a hunger strike. They want their situation to improve. They're also asking for phones. UK lawyers are helping the refugees to get to Britain.