The United Kingdom (UK) has returned over 60 migrants from the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) to Sri Lanka so far, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said.
Minister of State at the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Jesse Norman, said that migrants on the British Indian Ocean Territory are not in detention and are free to leave at any time.
“The UK Government has thus far assisted the voluntary return of over sixty migrants by plane to Sri Lanka. The UK government remains committed to supporting the departure of the migrants from the British Indian Ocean Territory, and to meeting its legal obligations to ensure that they are not at risk of persecution on return to their country of nationality,” he said.
Jesse Norman was responding to a question raised by Labour MP Sarah Champion on the migrants issue.
The British Indian Ocean Territory is a disputed Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean halfway between Tanzania and Indonesia. The territory comprises the seven atolls of the Chagos Archipelago with over 1,000 individual islands – many very small – amounting to a total land area of 60 square kilometres (23 sq mi).
The largest and most southerly island is Diego Garcia, the site of a Joint Military Facility of the United Kingdom and the United States. (Colombo Gazette)
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