LONDON: Thirteen asylum seekers have committed suicide in England in the past two and a half years, and 24 others have attempted suicide in that time.
A report by The Times found that this included children, such as a 14-year-old Iraqi girl who fell from a building and suffered severe head injuries.
Of the 13 dead, one bar was awaiting a decision on an asylum application, while the other was rejected. They ranged in age from 19 to 45 and a 21-year-old Russian woman took her own life near a canal in London.
A further 32 cases of serious self-harm by asylum seekers were recorded by the Home Office during the period in question, with the youngest aged 17 and the oldest aged 48. Iran, Syria, Libya, South Africa and Turkey.
A Yemeni doctor, who claimed asylum in the UK in 2023, told The Times that conditions for asylum seekers in the UK were inadequate, blaming them for the number of people who self-harm or attempt to kill. really.
“The staff treat you like some kind of criminal — it's like a prison. Visitors are only allowed (during) certain hours (and) it is not easy to go out,” he said.
“Many asylum seekers keep saying we are treated like beggars, when many asylum seekers come from overworked jobs. One night you are treated like this — and this is how you live, for you do not know how long. I never thought that I would have to fight every day for basic human needs or rights.”
The length of time and uncertainty surrounding asylum applications in the UK is believed to play a major role in the plight of asylum seekers in the UK, with two-thirds of the 161,000 asylum seekers awaiting a decision first idea about their location. spring 2023 wait six months for the product.
A Namibian nurse and former UN staff member told The Times that she applied for asylum in the UK in February 2020 but was refused until August 2023.
During that time, he said, he was “taken out of a safe environment” and moved to a hotel in Glasgow, where six people were stabbed by a Sudanese asylum seeker in June 2022 while he was staying. there.
He said he and others were not given medical help after the attack.
“Everything seems unquestionable,” he told The Times. “It was something I never expected in England. I never thought in my life that I would be scared in England.”
Prof. told The Times. Cornelius Katona, asylum activist and refugee mental health lead at the Royal College of Psychiatrists: “Displaced people seeking asylum and protection may have faced violence, danger or abuse and lost loved ones. . These can be deeply frightening experiences and increase a person's risk of developing mental illnesses such as anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.
“Asylum seekers also have to contend with housing, employment and financial uncertainty once they arrive in the UK, while also facing difficulties accessing healthcare. All of these factors can exacerbate existing mental illness and can lead to suicide or self-harm. “
Despite staff being trained to deal with issues including PTSD and suicidal tendencies, questions have also been raised about the suitability of segregated detention centres, including detention centres. the former Royal Air Force base at Wethersfield in Essex, where the emergency services were called on 38 separate occasions in the first five months of 2024.
Medecins Sans Frontieres said that 41 percent of people on the site who used the medical service mentioned suicidal thoughts or behavior.
The charity told The Times: “While there are clear differences between hotels and storage facilities, the often poor living conditions, failing security and long delays experienced by people cause all kinds of grief and mental problems.”
A case brought by four former residents over the site is currently being heard by the High Court in London. There were also allegations that the Bibby Stockholm, a ship due to be decommissioned in January 2025, was unsuitable for asylum seekers after the death of an Albanian man in a suspected suicide in December 2023.
A Home Office spokesman told The Times: “We take the health and well-being of asylum seekers seriously and at every stage of the process we will seek to ensure that all needs and vulnerabilities are met.” are identified and analyzed, including those related to psychological and mental health. trauma. We ensure that when a serious incident is reported, we take the necessary measures to ensure that our safety standards remain at the highest level.
