But even amid these deterrence policies, Suresh and more than 100 other holdouts on Diego Garcia face an even greater obstacle to their asylum bids: Diego Garcia is one of the only places under British sovereignty where the 1951 Refugee Convention does not apply. “[British authorities] are not applying the Refugee Convention, and nobody will be confirmed as having refugee status at the end of the process,” she told The New Humanitarian. They set out from southern India in late September 2021 and were picked up 11 days later by British forces and brought to Diego Garcia. The asylum seekers remained trapped on one of the bases for the next two decades, living in condemned living quarters. Generally speaking, UNHCR spokesperson Catherine Stubberfield said: “Voluntariness would require an understanding that there are options other than prolonged stay and limited movement on Diego Garcia”.