Sri Lankans stranded in Diego Garcia after rescue from sinking boat

The UK government’s treatment of asylum seekers is not just focused on the controversy surrounding the flights to Rwanda.

It is also under threat of legal action over the fate of 120 Sri Lankan Tamils stranded on British territory in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

More than 10 families, including 28 children, have been marooned in a camp on Diego Garcia since being rescued from their sinking boat.

They had risked the journey in search of a better life, after years spent in squalid refugee camps in India, where those who fled Sri Lanka’s brutal civil war claim they’re denied basic rights.

Channel 4 News understands immigration checks have started to determine where they may be transported to.

In a statement, the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office told us that they have been “working tirelessly to find a long-term solution” for the families currently on Diego Garcia and that  “their welfare and safety have been our top priority’ at all times. They also said they’ve ‘helped to provide food, telecoms and medical support as well as provision for education and welfare”.