Court finds UK Children Act protections apply to children stranded in Diego Garcia

Supreme court of British Indian Ocean Territory rules in favour of Tamil asylum seekers on island

Five children stranded on the remote island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean since October 2021 have won a case to be protected from harm in the same way as British children.

The supreme court of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), sitting remotely in London, has ruled in favour of some of the Tamil asylum seekers on the island including the five children and found that the key protections in the UK’s Children Act apply to the children on the island.