Charities supporting asylum seekers say they are documenting a series of suicide attempts among people threatened with being sent to Rwanda.
The news comes when Home Secretary Priti Patel has announced that the first group of asylum seekers to enter the UK without permission will be deported to Rwanda on 14 June.
The cases include an Iranian asylum seeker who attempted suicide and told charity workers that she took this action because she believed she was facing relocation to Rwanda. She was rescued, hospitalized and survived.
A 40-year-old Yemeni asylum seeker made a video addressed to Boris Johnson and Priti Patel in which he stated that after arriving in the UK on April 13 and finding out about Rwanda’s relocation plans, “he had no I have no choice but to commit suicide. “
The Independent reported the case of an Afghan asylum seeker detained in preparation for relocation to Rwanda. He said he had attempted suicide to avoid being sent there.
The recent death of a young Sudanese asylum seeker in Calais on 11 May is under investigation by French authorities. His friends told charity workers he told them he wanted to take his own life because he no longer wanted to live after the announcement about the relocation of Rwanda.
Clare Moseley, executive director of the charity Care4Calais, said the possibility of being forcibly sent to Rwanda was the last straw for people who could be traumatized.
The Guardian obtained freedom of information data revealing for the first time the Home Office’s own assessments of the widespread vulnerability of asylum seekers.
Last year alone, 17,440 asylum seekers were considered vulnerable and referred to what are known as “safeguard centers”. In its response, the Interior Ministry identified 26 different vulnerabilities that could lead to referral to a safeguard center, such as suicide and self-harm, torture, trafficking and mental health problems.
Moseley said: “The aim of Rwanda’s plan is to act as a deterrent, even more frightening to refugees than their fragile ship journeys across the Channel. Refugees have suffered terrible oppression. However, Our goal is to deter them from fear of further harm and oppression.This is not the act of a civilized or compassionate nation.It is not surprising that Priti Patel’s actions are driving the world’s victims desperate life “.
Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the Refugee Council, called on the Interior Ministry to reconsider its relocation plans. “We have been receiving a number of worrying reports from our services working directly with people in the asylum system about the devastating impact of the threat. Expatriates in Rwanda are suffering,” he said. “We are hearing tragic stories about the severe impact on mental health, including reports of self-harm.”
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PCS, the Ministry of the Interior staff union and several refugee charities have launched legal challenges against the Ministry of the Interior’s relocation plans in Rwanda.
A spokesman for the Interior Ministry said: “We are taking every step to prevent self-harm or suicide, so asylum seekers have access to health and social care services from the moment they arrive. and we have a welfare team dedicated to each asylum accommodation, a place responsible for identifying and supporting vulnerable asylum seekers, and all those who consider moving to Rwanda will be examined on a case-by-case basis. and no one will be removed if it is unsafe or unsuitable for them. “
In the United Kingdom, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 and the domestic abuse hotline is 0808 2000 247. In Australia, the Lifeline Crisis Support Service is at 13 11 14 and the National Crisis Support Service counseling on domestic violence is at 1800 737 732. In the US, the lifeline for suicide prevention is 1-800-273-8255 and the hotline for domestic violence is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org