Diego Garcia is the largest island of the British Indian Ocean Territory (“BIOT”) and home to a geo-politically vital US military base. It is long-disputed territory, with the ICJ concluding that the islands were incorporated into the BIOT unlawfully when Mauritius gained independence in 1968.
In recent times, Diego Garcia has been home to 61 asylum seekers, 16 of whom are children. The BBC has reported on the troubling conditions here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-68326365. In November 2023, the UNHCR visited the camp in which the asylum seekers are living and raised significant safeguarding concerns in relation to the children, including those of sexual assault and suicide.
Alexander Laing assisted by pupil, Maya Achan, with Ben Jaffey KC and Natasha Simonson of Blackstone Chambers, instructed by Leigh Day, represent various of those vulnerable adults and children in the Supreme Court of the BIOT.
Judgment has recently been handed down on one part of those claims: the applicability of the Children Act 1989 in the BIOT. Using Lewis CJ’s three-step test on the applicability and suitability of English law in the BIOT, set out in R (VT & others) v Commissioner for the BIOT, the Supreme Court agreed with the claimants’ argument and established that section 17 and section 47 of the CA 1989 are applicable to protect these vulnerable individuals.
To read this important judgment about the extra-territorial application of the Children Act 1989, please see further below.
