The UK plans to hand some remote islands back to Mauritius, and relocate the Sri Lankan asylum seekers stuck there
Three years ago, 89 Tamil asylum seekers left Sri Lanka via southern India to escape persecution. Their aim was to reach Canada in an unseaworthy boat, as others had attempted before them. They expected the transoceanic crossing to take 30 days. After 11 days at sea, their motor no longer working, they were rescued and taken to Diego Garcia, an island in the Chagos Archipelago. The archipelago is one of a few surviving British colonial overseas territories, and Diego Garcia is host to the largest US military base in the Indian Ocean.
The arrival of the asylum seekers marked the beginning of a multilayered international dispute that would go on to last three years. But their long search for safety may now be coming to an end.
After 50 years of negotiations and legal challenges, the UK announced last week that it would return sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius in a “historic agreement” that allows the UK and US to keep the military base on the island for another 99 years. The UK government claimed the deal will protect its national security interests and close an irregular migration route to the UK – the route the 89 Tamil asylum seekers had inadvertently accessed….
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After the truth-shower 