Huddled around their suitcases in a quiet corner of Gatwick's North Terminal, the smartly-dressed group could be mistaken for any party of tourists waiting for a plane.

But for the past two weeks this cold linoleum floor has been their home.

Some spent their life savings on their plane tickets.

They are spending the little money they have left on food - but it is fast running out.

A draughty corner of a busy airport is the only welcome which has greeted the party of 30 travellers - all with British passports and citizenship - who made the 7,000-mile journey in search of new lives.

They are the first in an expected wave of up to 5,000 islanders heading for the UK to escape the poverty which followed their forced exile from the beautiful jungle atoll of Diego Garcia, to make way for a military base.

Yesterday afternoon a contingent of ten marched to a social services office in Crawley to demand help.

But the Garcians, who flew into Heathrow from Mauritius 12 days ago, have been told nothing can be done.

Since arriving they have been pushed from pillar to post by various authorities who normally house refugees and asylum-seekers.

But the Diego Garcians all have British passports and have been promised a better life in the UK as part of a unique legal ruling when US forces bulldozed their idyllic beach homes to build a landing strip for B52 bombers.

It was from here the assault on Afghanistan was launched.

The catch was, the Diego Garcians had to have accommodation in the UK before they arrived.

Their spokeswoman is 53-year-old Francine Arrestede, who speaks near-perfect English.

She said: "We just want help. Other people are given accommodation and we are having to live at the airport. It is not right."

One of the main problems is the islanders speak their native French Creole but most understand only a few words of English, despite their citizenship.

Francine said: "Some of these people have spent their life savings to come to Britain. They came with about £25 each in spending money and most of that is gone. We are poor and we need help."

Her family was one of the first to colonise Diego Garcia in the 17th Century.

Then, their economy was based on coconut palms, sugar-cane and fishing and their major problems revolved round piracy and disease.

Now it is simply council red tape. All they want is a bed for the night.

BAA, which runs Gatwick, is reasonably happy to let them stay until their problems are resolved but stress the situation cannot go on indefinitely.

The group has taken over a waiting area near the north terminal bus station and are managing to get by, sleeping upright and washing in the airport toilets.

But they say they have no more money for food.

They have established a makeshift settlement using their airport trolleys as a screen and generally sit quietly while Francine continues negotiations with the various authorities.

What she has been told is of cold comfort.

Crawley Borough Council was sympathetic but said there is nothing it can do.

A spokesman said: "We are powerless. This is not in our remit. They need to take their case up with West Sussex County Council."

An earlier group of islanders who landed at Gatwick in April are being put up in a £50-a-night hotel paid for by social services.

The latest arrivals came to Gatwick looking for the same treatment but because the plane which brought them in touched down at Heathrow, West Sussex social services will not pay for them.

It is the authority at the port of entry which is ultimately responsible.

When they landed, the group mistakenly approached Westminster Council who refused to help.

They did not know they should have tried the town hall at Hillingdon.

Instead they came to Gatwick, hoping it would prove "lucky" for them.

A spokesman for West Sussex County Council said: "It is our understanding the majority of the group arrived at Heathrow airport last week and approached Westminster City Council social services on July 4 to ask for support.

"Westminster chose to decline their request.

"These people are not asylum-seekers. They have British passports.

"In the past we have helped two other groups of people from Mauritius, offering them accommodation and financial support until they find employment or become eligible for state benefits.

"We have taken legal advice and it is our understanding we should offer support to people with British passports who present themselves as destitute at their port of entry.

"In this case we will not be offering support as their port of entry was not within West Sussex and the group are therefore not the responsibility of the people of West Sussex."

Crawley MP Laura Moffatt has been in talks with the Foreign Office and further meetings are scheduled with the Department of Health.

The MP said: "All persons entering the country and claiming destitution are the responsibility of the local authority in their port of entry.

"That has to be the case and it is for everyone, British citizens or not.

"I understand these people landed at Heathrow and so are the responsibility of Hillingdon.

"Gatwick and West Sussex deal with those who arrive at Gatwick but I'm we cannot be expected to take on others."

A spokesman for BAA at Gatwick said: "We are happy for them to stay here for the time being.

"They are causing no problems and we appreciate they are in need of help."

Diego Garcia is a sandy ridge which juts out of the Indian Ocean with no other land within 1,000 miles.

India lies to the north, Madagascar to the west, Indonesia to the east and nothing but Antarctica to the south.

It is one of 52 islands in the Chagos Archipelago.

Its ribbon-like landmass of 11 square miles, encircling a lagoon, is named locally the Footprint of Freedom.

Despite the tropical feel, the island is no tropical paradise.

In fact, it more closely resembles a stationary aircraft carrier.

After 19th Century tussles between the Portuguese and French, it is now under the ownership of the United Kingdom and has a BritRep - a British Representative who acts as judge, jury and chief of police.

In 1971, about 2,000 members of the indigenous Ilois people were forced off the island by the British to nearby Mauritius.

British and US government agreements allowed the US access to part of the island to construct a communication station and subsequently a naval support facility.

For 30 years the Ilois have been banned from their homeland, expelled in what has been described as "an act of late colonial arrogance breathtaking in its execution".

Now numbering about 5,000, they are scattered in slums around Port Louis.

They are largely uneducated and have not adapted to metropolitan life.

The Diego Garcians say they have been impoverished by the upheaval and last year, by way of compensation, they were granted British citizenship and presented with new passports.

They were supposed to be passports to a better life in the UK.

But the official government line is that the Diego Garcians were warned they had to find accommodation before coming here.

These islanders are now without their ancestral home and there is no welcome at the new one.

At the moment the 30 islanders camped out at Gatwick present a relatively small problem for the authorities.

But there are 5,000 others - all with British passports - who want to come to live in the UK.

They spend their days dreaming of their paradise lost.

The paradise they found is a busy airport terminal.

And the rest could be arriving in the next few weeks.