More than 200 Sri Lankan asylum seekers, mostly ethnic Tamils claiming to have faced persecution by the Sri Lankan government, arrived on Diego Garcia in five successive boats starting in October 2021. Like Sri Lanka, Rwanda has a record of detaining, torturing, and murdering political dissidents. “Many [asylum seekers] say this ‘third country’ is Rwanda,” said Meera*, a Sri Lankan mother of three whose husband was among the first asylum seekers to arrive on Diego Garcia in October 2021. She has also said it is her “dream” and “obsession” to see asylum seekers deported to Rwanda. *Names of asylum seekers and their relatives have been changed for fear of reprisals.