The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) Court of Appeal upheld a ruling that Tamil asylum seekers were unlawfully detained on the island of Diego Garcia.
In December 2024, the BIOT Supreme Court ruled that 64 Tamil asylum seekers, including sixteen children, had been unlawfully detained on Diego Garcia, part of the Chagos Islands and home to a UK-US military base.
At the time Margaret Obi, then Acting Judge of the BIOT Supreme Court, remarked in her ruling that: “It is unsurprising that the claimants feel as if they are in a prison; that is exactly what it is, in all but name.”
Following the ruling, BIOT Commissioner Nishi Dholakia appealed the decision, arguing that the claimants had not been unlawfully detained and that restrictions imposed on them were necessary due to security considerations. On 16 December 2025, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal on all grounds.
The Tamil migrants were rescued and escorted by the Royal Navy to Diego Garcia in 2021 after their boat foundered in the Indian Ocean to Canada. Fleeing persecution in Sri Lanka, they made claims for international protection upon arrival in Diego Garcia.
They were housed in rat-infested tents within a fenced compound guarded by private security firm G4S. During their detention, there were hunger strikes, incidents of self-harm and suicide attempts, as well as allegations of sexual assault and harassment by others within in the camp. In a draft report, the UNHCR said their detention amounted to ‘arbitrary detention’ and that conditions “fail to provide the necessary standards of privacy, safety and dignity”.
Most of the group were relocated to the UK in December 2024 In what the UK government described as a “one-off” move. In May 2025, the UK reached an agreement to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius while retaining a 99-year lease over Diego Garcia.
Simon Robinson, a solicitor at Duncan Lewis, welcomed the judgement and added that “Their unlawful detention was at a cost of £108,000 a day to the UK taxpayer. The substantial damages which will now be owed add to these costs.”
Leigh Day solicitor Tom Short, who represents some of the asylum seekers, stated:
“We hope that this will be the end of the matter and that no further public money will be wasted by the British Indian Ocean Territory Administration in trying to deny the reality that the Commissioner treated our vulnerable clients as prisoners.”
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