BRITISH diplomats were terrified that one of their Caribbean tax havens would be overwhelmed by refugees from Haiti, newly revealed papers show.

Haiti’s first democratically elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide was overthrown in a US-backed coup in 1991.

The military takeover forced thousands to flee. By 1992 the US was desperately asking the British Foreign Office if it could build a screening centre on the neighbouring British territory of Turks and Caicos Islands.

But diplomats noted that local politicians were “implacably opposed” and “feared their small societies would be swamped” and tourism “ruined.”

British officials agreed that the proposal would “swamp the more inhabited islands or turn the less-habited ones into ghettos.”

And if the scheme was successful, they said, it would “run the risk of inviting more Haitian refugees to target the islands.”

Prime Minister John Major agreed with the advice from his officials to reject the US request, and facilities on the islands were only provided for a handful of “Haitian boat people.”