'We are British citizens – why do they do this to us?'

Marry Joyce came to Britain to start again. She hoped to leave behind the poverty and degradation of life as a poorly educated menial worker on the island of Mauritius and put her British citizenship to good use: to get a job, a home and a future.

She ended up sleeping on a bench in Gatwick airport for two weeks.

With 29 companions, she is now staying in a hotel in Crawley, near the airport, while three councils wrangle over which is responsible for housing the destitute group.

The 30 are originally from the British territory of Diego Garcia, an island in the Indian Ocean on which stands the base used to launch the USA's B52 bombing raids on Afghanistan in 2001.

Speaking at the airport, Joyce said: "All our clothes are dirty, we have no money and nowhere to live. It's very sad. We are British citizens – why do they do this to us?"

Diego Garcia's 5000 inhabitants were awarded British citizenship under the British Overseas Territories Act 2002. They have been living on Mauritius since being evacuated from their island by the British in the 1960s, when the US armed forces took it over. Poor and largely uneducated, many of the Diego Garcians live in slums and work in the declining Mauritian textile industry.

Joyce and 29 others decided to come to Britain and look for work. They were following 70 of their compatriots, who came over in two groups in September 2002 and March 2003 and were temporarily housed by West Sussex social services after landing at Gatwick airport.

The Diego Garcians had been told they had to find jobs and homes before entering the country, but claim they could not do so.

Allen Vincatassin, who came to Britain last September and is now working in hotel management, said: "How do they expect people to find a job when they are not even in the country? It's impossible.

"These people are living in poverty. They have been waiting for this British citizenship so they can come here and start a new life."

Joyce and her group landed in Heathrow on 22 June. They first went to Westminster in central London – believing that this was where they could find work – and stayed in a bed-and-breakfast at their own expense for two weeks. When their money ran out, they went to Westminster council, which said it was not responsible for housing them.

So they went to Gatwick as their compatriots had been housed after landing there; but West Sussex County Council said that, as the group had landed at Heathrow, they were the responsibility of Hillingdon Borough Council.

Continuing the pattern, Hillingdon too denied responsibility. A Hillingdon council spokesman said: "Had they presented themselves at Hillingdon first we would have taken specialist advice from barristers as to what our responsibilities, if any, were."

The group then began an epic wait in the arrivals lounge at Gatwick, subsisting on what food the local Diego Garcian community could spare them. Just as they were on the verge of being thrown out by BAA, the airports authority, the High Court agreed with lawyers acting for the group and ordered West Sussex council to provide temporary housing.

The 30 people are now staying in a hotel in Crawley, at a cost of £1000 per person per month, pending a judicial review. They have been there since 18 July, and a ruling on their status is expected at the end of this month.

West Sussex Labour MP Laura Moffat has been working with the county council. She said: "This court ruling has clarified the position in the short term and I am clearly pleased about that, but the long-term implications for local social services budgets remain an issue."

A spokesman for West Sussex county council said: "This order from the High Court is not an assumption of responsibility. A judicial review will now take place to decide the future of this group."

The decision is eagerly awaited in Britain and Mauritius. According to the group now settled in the UK, many more Diego Garcians wish to come to Britain.