In a landmark legal defeat for the British government, appeal court judges have upheld a ruling that dozens of Tamil asylum seekers were unlawfully detained for years in appalling conditions on the remote island of Diego Garcia.
The decision, handed down in London on Tuesday, marks a full legal vindication for the more than 60 individuals who were held on the UK-US military base after a shipwreck while attempting to reach Canada to seek asylum.
Appeal Dismissed on All Grounds
The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) commissioner, Nishi Dholakia, had appealed against a supreme court ruling made exactly a year earlier, on 16 December 2024. In that original judgment, Acting Judge Margaret Obi found the Tamils had been unlawfully detained for three years in circumstances she described as creating a feeling of being in a prison "in all but name."
Commissioner Dholakia's appeal contested this finding of unlawful detention. However, the territory's court of appeal rejected his challenge on all four grounds presented. The judges were critical of the evidence submitted in support of the appeal, characterising it as "a highly selective exercise."
'Hell on Earth' Conditions on a Tropical Island
Diego Garcia, the largest island in the Chagos archipelago, is situated halfway between Tanzania and Indonesia. While known for its idyllic white-sand beaches and turquoise seas, the reality for the detained asylum seekers was starkly different.
They were accommodated in rat-infested tents within a fenced and guarded camp, largely deprived of their liberty. Their lawyers detailed the severe impact of their confinement, which included 16 children among the group.
Tom Short, a solicitor from Leigh Day representing some of the Tamils, stated the ruling provided "full vindication" of the earlier judgment. "The court has found that the commissioner intended to confine our clients... and that he had no justification for doing so," he said. "His attempt to rewrite history has failed."
Substantial Damages and Taxpayer Costs
The legal defeat paves the way for a substantial compensation claim against the British government. The claimants are now expected to seek millions of pounds in damages for their prolonged unlawful detention.
Simon Robinson of Duncan Lewis solicitors, also representing some of the claimants, highlighted the financial burden already incurred. "Their unlawful detention was at a cost of £108,000 a day to the UK taxpayer," he revealed. "The substantial damages which will now be owed, add to these costs. These costs escalated because of the egregious delay by the home secretary and foreign secretary in agreeing to end their detention and relocate them."
The Home Office has been approached for comment in the wake of the decisive court ruling.
