Data reveals rise in deaths by suicide as at least 8 people took their own lives while waiting for their asylum applications last year
AT LEAST 40 people died while housed in UK Home Office asylum-seeker accommodation in 2023 – and a worryingly high number of them appear to have taken their own lives, The Civil Fleet can reveal.
Home Office data provided in a Freedom of Information (FOI) request records the deaths of 31 men and eight women, including one person whose gender was listed as “n/a” last year, at an average of 3.3 asylum-seeker deaths per month.
Four of the deceased died by suicide, and another four are suspected to have taken their own lives.
One of those suspected cases — that of a 29-year-old Sudanese man who died in the Midlands and East of England region — happened while he was “being held on remand in custody at [REDACTED] police station and is suspected to have died by suicide,” the data shows.
The Home Office censored the police station, and several other details in the FOI request, presumably in order to not identify the deceased.
The figures also show the death of a 27-year-old Albania man who died on the Bibby Stockholm in September. This aligns with the widely reported death of Leonard Farruku, who is also believed to have taken his own life.
Another death, that of a 24-year-old Eritrean man in May, could have been a suicide or an accident. But the Home Office data merely states the “customer” was “found deceased in the River [REDACTED].”
The deaths of 18 “customers” or “service users,” as the Home Officer refers to the dead, are listed simply as “found dead” or “passed away.”
For example, a 34-year-old woman from China “sadly passed away” in March. A man, 53, from war-torn Sudan was “found unresponsive in his accommodation and pronounced dead by paramedics when they arrived on the scene.”
A 36-year-old Algerian “customer” — whose gender was listed as n/a — “passed away in hospital after going into cardiac arrest at [their] accommodation.” The data does not state what caused the heart attack.
The Civil Fleet’s previous FOI requests revealed that three of the 46 people who died in Home Office asylum-seeker accommodation in 2022 took their own lives. And just two people – out of a total of 19 deaths — died by suicide in 2021.
“Ministers are quick to exploit news about people drowning in the Channel, but the deaths of people in the Home Office’s care is shockingly ignored,” Steve Valdez-Symonds, Amnesty International UK’s refugee and migrant rights director told The Civil Fleet.
“The reality is that politicians responsible for the UK’s dreadful asylum policy do not care about the people that it should be protecting – instead, it is deliberately harming them.
“The shoddy asylum policy to not process people’s claims, miserable accommodation, threats of expulsion to Rwanda and indefinite limbo of exclusion from work and meaningful social engagement has done serious damage to people stuck in the UK’s asylum system and is led by pure cruelty.
“We fear indications of a round of detentions will only exacerbate an already miserable situation, putting even more lives at risk.”
‘The human cost of unsuitable accommodation’
Eight people died from medical conditions, according to the data.
| Nationality | Number of deaths in Home Office care in 2023 |
| Afghanistan | 2 |
| Albania | 1 |
| Algeria | 1 |
| Bangladesh | 1 |
| China | 2 |
| Colombia | 1 |
| Eritrea | 4 |
| Ethiopia | 1 |
| Georgia | 2 |
| Ghana | 1 |
| India | 1 |
| Iran | 3 |
| Iraq | 3 |
| Kenya | 1 |
| Morocco | 1 |
| Namibia | 1 |
| Nigeria | 1 |
| Oman | 1 |
| Pakistan | 3 |
| Senegal | 1 |
| Somalia | 1 |
| Sudan | 6 |
| Zimbabwe | 1 |
A three-year-old Sudanese boy “passed away in hospital due to ongoing medical issues.” No more details were provided.
A 31-year-old customer from Zimbabwe was “found deceased in his accommodation by police. Cause of death believed to be medical as no indication of foul play or suicide,” the data states.
The causes of death for at least three people were listed as unknown, and four others died in what appear to be very unfortunate circumstances, like a house fire, a hit-and-run incident, and a 28-year-old Eritrean man who “jumped from the window in his room to attempt to save himself from [a] fire” — which was caused the lithium battery in an e-bike.
The average age of the 40 people who died was just 36.9 — far below the UK’s latest average life expectancy figures of 78.6 years for males and 82.6 years for females born in the country.
The youngest, just days old, died in hospital after a premature birth. His mother had travelled from Sudan. The oldest was an 88-year-old man from Pakistan who was known to suffer with terminal cancer and Parkinson.
Those from Asian and African countries make up most of the dead – with 16 and 20 deaths respectively.
Three European asylum-seekers (one from Albania and two from Georgia) died. And so did one person from the South American country of Colombia.
“Every person on this list is someone who was badly failed,” Lucy Gregg, acting head of advocacy at Freedom from Torture told The Civil Fleet. “They had families, a future, hopes, and aspirations.
“Instead of creating conditions of safety to welcome these people into our society, our government has instead chosen lethal cruelty for the sake of their own branding, leading to the unspeakable outcomes that we see here.
“This latest data shows the human cost of living in unsafe and unsuitable accommodation, particularly for people who have experienced significant trauma in their country of origin and en route to the UK.
“For those who have endured the worst kinds of suffering, including torture, being forced to live in accommodation such as hotels, barges, and barracks leads to significant negative mental impact.
“We urgently need community-based accommodation that treats refugees and asylum seekers with dignity.”
The deaths occurred across the UK in asylum-seeker accommodations operated on behalf of the Home Office by the outsourcing giants Clearsprings Ready Homes, Serco, and Mears Group.
The deadliest region by far was the South of England, with 18 deaths in total. Asylum accommodation there is operated by Clearsprings Ready Homes.
There were nine deaths in the Midland and East of England region. Serco runs the accommodation services there.
In the North West of England, where Serco also operates, six people passed away.
In the Northeast, Yorkshire, and Humberside region (NEYH), where Mears Group is in charge, three people died.
Mears Group’s other areas, Scotland and Northern Ireland, saw two and one deaths respectively.
There was also one death in Wales – Clearsprings Ready Homes’ territory.
| Company / UK Region | Number of asylum-seeker deaths in 2023 |
| Clearsprings Ready Homes South / Wales | 19 (18 / 1) |
| Serco Midlands & East / North West | 15 (9 / 6) |
| Mears Group NEYH / Scotland / Northern Ireland | 6 (3 / 2 / 1) |
“It is a profound tragedy that so many people seeking asylum have died in Home Office accommodation,” Imran Hussain, executive director of communications and external affairs at the Refugee Council, told The Civil Fleet.
“These are people who have fled war and persecution and have come to the UK in search of safety and a chance to rebuild their lives, but tragically they died while still waiting for an outcome on their claim and never got the chance to start their lives anew as refugees in the UK. Our thoughts go out to the friends and families of those who died in such tragic circumstances.
“The fact that so many lives have been lost in asylum accommodation should be a serious cause for concern for the Home Office.
“Every case will be different but preventing deaths means the government must no longer ignore the unsafe and inappropriate conditions in Home Office-run asylum accommodation.
“People in the asylum system should have access to safe and dignified accommodation, along with essential services, including comprehensive health and mental health support.
“It is our collective responsibility to provide protection to those who are fleeing conflict and tyranny.”
When life is difficult, Samaritans are here – day or night, 365 days a year. You can call them for free on 116 123, email them at jo@samaritans.org, or visit www.samaritans.org to find your nearest branch.
Top image (Luigi Boccardo / Creative Commons)
The Civil Fleet 
I don’t suppose it’s possible to have information on the number of person/years of refugees held in the UK and to work out actual mortality rates for matched numbers of free civilians for the same period. Presumably the difference in death rates could then be clearly shown to be a direct result of incarceration.
I suppose we just have to take it on face value. (Like it didn’t need much sociological research wrt Auschwitz that the regime of starvation and hard labour was killing people.
Thanks for the article Ben.
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