LONDON: Thirteen asylum seekers have committed suicide in the UK in the past two-and-a-half years and another 24 have tried to take their own lives in that period.
The Times report found that children were among them, such as a 14-year-old Iraqi girl who threw herself from a building and suffered serious head injuries.
Of the 13 who died, all but one were awaiting a decision on their asylum applications, while the other was rejected. They ranged in age from 19 to 45 and included a 21-year-old Russian who took her own life by a London canal.
Another 32 cases of serious self-harm by asylum seekers were also registered by the Ministry of the Interior in the mentioned period, with the youngest being 17 and the oldest 48. Among the nationalities represented in the self-harm data were people from Iran, Syria, Libya, South Africa and Turkey.
A Yemeni doctor who applied for asylum in the UK in 2023 told The Times that conditions for asylum seekers in the UK were inadequate and blamed the number of people who self-harm or attempt suicide.
“The staff treat you like some kind of criminal – it's like a prison.” You don't get visitors except (during) certain hours (and) it's not easy to go out,” she said.
“Many asylum seekers still say we are treated like beggars when many asylum seekers come from very powerful professions. Overnight you are treated like this – and this is your life for you don't even know how long. 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 believed to play a large role in the mental health conditions of asylum seekers in the UK, with more than two-thirds of the 161,000 asylum seekers awaiting a first decision on their status in the UK . Spring 2023 waits over six months for the result.
The Namibian nurse and former UN employee told The Times that she applied for asylum in the UK in February 2020 but was refused until August 2023.
During that time, she said, she was “taken out of a safe environment” and moved to a Glasgow hotel where, in June 2022, six people stabbed a Sudanese asylum seeker while she was staying there.
She said she and others were not offered mental health support after the attack.
“Everything seems like we can't ask,” she told The Times. “It's something I never expected in the UK. Never in my life did I expect to be afraid in the UK.”
Prof. Cornelius Katona, asylum seeker and head of 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. These can be deeply traumatic experiences and increase someone's risk of developing a mental illness such as anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.
“Asylum seekers also face significant housing, employment and financial insecurity upon arrival in the UK, as well as difficulties accessing healthcare. All of these factors can exacerbate existing mental illness and potentially lead to increased suicidality or self-harm.”
Despite the Home Office providing staff with training to deal with issues such as PTSD and suicidal tendencies, questions have also been raised about the suitability of dedicated detention centres, including the former Royal Air Force base in Wethersfield, Essex, where 38 have been on separate occasions in the first five months of 2024.
MSF claimed that 41 percent of people on the ground used its medical services in reference to suicidal thoughts or behavior.
The charity told The Times: “While there are clear differences between hotels and closed places, the often poor living conditions, security failures and long delays people experience lead to varying levels of anxiety and mental health problems.
The High Court in London is currently hearing the case of four former residents over the site. There have also been allegations that the Bibby Stockholm, a vessel due to be decommissioned in January 2025, was unfit to house asylum seekers after an Albanian died in December 2023 in a suspected suicide.
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 aim to ensure that all needs and vulnerabilities, including those related to mental health and mental health, are identified and considered. trauma. We ensure that where a serious incident is reported, we take the necessary measures to ensure that our safety standards remain at the highest level.”
