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Handout<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nMigrants stranded for years on the remote Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia will be offered the right to come to the UK, under a government proposal.<\/p>\n Around 60 Sri Lankan Tamils have spent more than three years in a makeshift camp on the island, which hosts a secretive UK-US military base, after becoming the first people ever to file asylum claims there.<\/p>\n The government has previously opposed bringing the group to the UK and complex legal battles have been fought for years over their fate.<\/p>\n In a letter on Monday, government lawyers said that \u201cfollowing further consideration\u201d, the government had proposed a \u201cchange of policy\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Under this, \u201call families, children and those of the unaccompanied males who do not have criminal convictions, outstanding charges or investigations would be offered the opportunity to be transferred directly to the UK\u201d.<\/p>\n It added that work on the offer was \u201congoing\u201d and a formal decision would be made within 48 hours. \u201cDetails will be provided as soon as possible,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n In a phone call with one of the Tamils, an official said the decision to bring them to the UK was due to the \u201cexceptional circumstances\u201d of the island, adding that entry would be for \u201ca short period of time\u201d.<\/p>\n The Prime Minister\u2019s Official Spokesperson told reporters at a daily news briefing in Downing Street that \u201cthe government inherited a deeply-troubling situation that remained unresolved under the previous administration when it came to migrants who had arrived at Diego Garcia. Diego Garcia had clearly never been a suitable long-term location for migrants\u201d.<\/p>\n He added \u201cthe government has been working to find a solution that protects their welfare and the integrity of British territorial borders\u201d.<\/p>\n Lawyers representing the Tamils described the move as a \u201cvery welcome step\u201d in a \u201clong battle for justice\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter three years living in inhumane conditions, having to fight various injustices in court on numerous occasions, His Majesty\u2019s Government [HMG] has now decided that our clients should now come directly to the UK. We hope that HMG will now take urgent steps to give effect to this decision,\u201d Simon Robinson of UK law firm Duncan Lewis told the BBC.<\/p>\n \u201cToday\u2019s decision is an enormous relief to our clients and we urge the home secretary to close the camp and bring our clients here without any further delay,” said Leigh Day lawyer Tom Short.<\/p>\n \u201cIt looks like a dream. I don\u2019t know what to think,\u201d one Tamil said after receiving a call from an official with the news.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The UK had previously offered some of the group a temporary move to Romania with the possibility of then coming to the UK. Others were offered financial incentives to return to Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n The latest development comes after the UK announced last month that it was handing sovereignty of British Indian Ocean Territory (Biot), which includes Diego Garcia, to Mauritius<\/a>. The military base, however, will remain on the island.<\/p>\n Under a separate deal last month, future migrants arriving on Biot before the arrangement with Mauritius comes into force will be transferred to the island of St Helena – another UK territory some 5,000 miles away.<\/p>\n In court on Monday, lawyers said three people with criminal convictions may be sent to the island of Montserrat – a British territory in the Caribbean – to serve their sentences. <\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/bbcx\/grey-placeholder.png\")
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