London: 13 asylum seekers have committed suicide in the UK in the last two and a half years, and 24 others have committed suicide during this period.
A report by the Times newspaper found that includes children such as a 14-year-old Iraqi girl who threw herself from a building and suffered head injuries.
Of the 13 people who died, one was awaiting a decision on their asylum application and the other was rejected. They ranged in age from 19 to 45 and included a 21-year-old Russian woman who died beside a London canal.
Another 32 cases of serious self-harm by asylum seekers were also recorded by the Ministry of Interior during the period in question, the youngest of which was 17 years old and the oldest was 48 years old. Iran, Syria, Libya, South Africa and Türkiye.
A Yemeni doctor who claimed asylum in the UK in 2023 told The Times that conditions for asylum seekers in the UK were “unacceptable” and blamed them for the number of people who self-harm or attempt suicide.
“The staff treat you like you're a criminal – it's like a prison. “You don't have visitors except (during) certain hours (and) it's not easy to go out.” he said
Many asylum seekers keep saying that we are treated like beggars, while many asylum seekers come from extremely successful careers. Overnight you are treated like this – and your life is like this, because you don't know how long it is. “I never thought I would have to fight daily for basic human needs or basic rights.”
The length of time and uncertainty surrounding asylum applications in the UK is thought to play a large role in the mental health of asylum seekers in the UK, with more than two-thirds of the 161,000 asylum seekers awaiting an initial decision on their status. Spring 2023 waited more than six months for the result.
A Namibian nurse and former UN employee told The Times that she applied for asylum in the UK in February 2020 but did not receive a rejection until August 2023.
During that time, he said, he was taken out of a secure environment and moved to a hotel in Glasgow where six people were stabbed by a Sudanese refugee in June 2022 while he was staying there.
She said she and others were not offered mental health support after the attack.
“Everything seems like we can't ask questions,” he told The Times. This is something I never expected in the UK. “I never in my life expected to be scared in Britain.”
Professor Cornelius Katona, head of asylum and refugee mental health at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, told The Times: “People who have been displaced and are seeking refuge and protection may have faced violence, danger or exploitation and lost loved ones. to be These can be deeply traumatic experiences and increase the risk of mental illness such as anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.
Asylum seekers also have to deal with significant housing, employment and financial uncertainty when arriving in the UK, while also having difficulty accessing healthcare. All of these factors can exacerbate an existing mental illness and potentially lead to increased suicide or self-harm.
Despite the Home Office providing staff with training to deal with issues including PTSD and suicidal tendencies, questions have been raised about the suitability of dedicated care facilities, including the former Royal Air Force base at Wethersfield in Essex, where emergency services were called on 38 , has been raised. Separate occasions in the first five months of 2024.
Médecins Sans Frontières claimed that 41 percent of people on the site used its medical services citing suicidal thoughts or behavior.
The charity told The Times: “Although there are clear differences between hotels and places of detention, the often poor living conditions, security breakdowns and long delays people experience lead to varying levels of anxiety and mental health problems.”
A case brought by four former residents about the site is currently being heard by the High Court in London. There are also claims that the Baby Stockholm, due to be decommissioned in January 2025, was unfit to house asylum seekers after the death of an Albanian man in a suspected suicide in December 2023.
A Home Office spokesperson told The Times: “We take the health and well-being of asylum seekers seriously and will work at every stage of the process to ensure that all needs and vulnerabilities are identified and taken into account, including those related to mental health and Trauma We ensure that if a serious incident is reported, we take the necessary steps to ensure that our safeguarding standards remain at the highest level.”
