UN calls for immediate transfer of 61 asylum seekers stuck on Indian Ocean island

The UN has called for the urgent relocation of a group of 61 asylum seekers who have been stranded on the remote Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia for more than two years should be urgently relocated after experiencing violence, abuse and arbitrary detention.

The inspection report from the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, marked “confidential” and disclosed to the Guardian and the BBC by the supreme court of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), is the first to be carried out since a group of asylum seekers, mainly Tamils from Sri Lanka, arrived on the island in October 2021.

According to the UN’s report, the group, mainly asylum seekers with a small number granted refugee status, fall under the effective control of the UK government, have been subjected to conditions of arbitrary detention and should be urgently relocated.

The asylum seekers are held in a fenced-in area the size of a football pitch, guarded by G4S staff. They are not allowed to cook for themselves and have been bitten by rats, which are “ubiquitous” on the island and have gnawed holes in their tents.