PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release

Date: Wednesday 19 May 2004 1:07 pm
Glasgow asylum seeker suicide - MORE DETAILS

The name of the 27 year old man who we understand hung himself is Zekria Ghulam Mohammed, a 27 year old asylum seeker from Afghanistan. He came to Scotland four years ago. Our information is that he smashed a glass panel above a door and looped a rope around it and then hung himself. Mohammad Naveen Asif of the Scottish Afghan Society expressed condolences and regret at Mr Mohammed’s death and is backling calls by Positive Action in Housing for a full police enquiry.



Positive Action in Housing’s director, Robina Qureshi, said:


“We are worried that there could be an increase in attempted suicides amongst Glasgow’s 8,000 asylum seeker population because of the torture test imposed on them by the Home Secretary’s asylum policy. It should be remembered that the Home Office has complete power over the lives of asylum seekers to give or take away the right of asylum, accommodation and shelter, even their freedom. On several occasions, we have had people coming in to our offices who are absolutely destitute and under threat of deportation and saying that they would rather kill themselves here than go back to their countries and face imprisonment, torture or death. We’re highlighting the need for a full enquiry because we want to know whether destitution or threatened deportation could have affected his decision to take his own life.”



PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release
Date: Wednesday 19 May 2004 10:08 am

Charity demands full enquiry into suspected asylum suicide and warns of further deaths as a result of Blunkett’s torture test

Positive Action in housing is continuing to press for a full enquiry into the death of a suspected suicide by a 27 year old asylum seeker who we understand hung himself in a NASS (Home Office) flat in Glasgow yesterday. We understand that there will be no major enquiry into the man’s death.

Positive Action in Housing’s destitution service has seen a significant increase in mental health problems and attempted suicides amongst its destitute clients The charity warns that refugees who claim asylum in the UK are being forced into desperate measures including hunger strikes and attempted suicides, and that this is directly as a result of threatened deportation and eviction.



Positive Action in Housing’s director, Robina Qureshi, said:



“We’re highlighting the need for a full enquiry because we are concerned about what happened to this man, and why the Home Office won’t disclose its relationship with this man, we are very worried that there could be an increase in attempted suicides amongst Glasgow’s 8,000 asylum seeker population because of the torture test imposed on them by the Home Secretary’s asylum policy. It should be remembered that the Home Office has complete power over the lives of asylum seekers to give or take away the right of asylum, accommodation and shelter, even their freedom. On several occasions, we have had people coming in to our offices who are absolutely destitute and under threat of deportation and saying that they would rather kill themselves here than go back to their countries and face imprisonment, torture or death. We should be concerned about what happened to this man find out the circumstances of his death. The police say there are no suspicious circumstances, and we suspect the man committed suicide by hanging himself”.



ENDS


Tuesday 18 May 2004 22:40 hrs

Update to this story: We have just received information on this story and understand that the unnamed asylum seeker who we suspect committed suicide, hung himself in a NASS (Home Office) flat in Bluevale Street, Dennistoun, in Glasgow. His friend apparently had to break his door down and discovered him.



More info – see below



PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release
Date: Tuesday 18 May 2004 9:50 pm

Full enquiry demanded into suspected suicide of asylum seeker in Glasgow NASS flat

Positive Action in Housing, an antiracist charity that assists refugees and asylum seekers, is demanding a full enquiry into the death of a 27 year old man, understood to be an asylum seeker, who was found dead today (Tuesday) around 3.00pm at an address used to house refugees seeking asylum in the UK.

The Home Office confirmed today that the property where the man was found was being used by the National Asylum Support Service, which provides housing for asylum seekers. It is understood the man was awaiting a decision by the Home Office on his application for asylum in the UK. Police do not believe the death to be suspicious. They refused to reveal any details about the man's status.

Robina Qureshi, Director of Positive Action in Housing, said:

“Our condolences go to the family of this man who, we suspect, may still not know he has died. We understand that the police are not conducting a major enquiry into this man’s death. We call on the police to carry out a full enquiry into the death of this man because we suspect he may have committed suicide while awaiting a decision by the Home Office on his asylum application in the UK.



“Through our destitution service, we know of other would be refugees who have attempted suicides after the torture of going through a dehumanising asylum process. Many destitute people have suffered mental breakdowns as a result of the home Secretary’s get tough asylum policy, they have no where to go and no one to turn to because they are not allowed recourse to public services under David Blunkett’s asylum policy”.

Only last month, three Iranian asylum seekers ended a six week hunger strike after being threatened with eviction and absolute destitution by NASS.

Notes to editors



1. Positive Action in Housing is a Scottish wide anti-racist organisation working with communities and others to enable everyone to have an equal chance to live in good quality, affordable and safe homes, free from discrimination and the fear of racial harassment and violence. Since 1995, we have taken a centre stage role in challenging racism and supporting the human right of everyone to live in a safe home and neighbourhood. Then, we were fighting the legacy of years of discrimination in housing against immigrant communities. We still are. Today that fight has shifted to challenging the forced dispersal, segregation, imprisonment and destitution of refugee communities. Our work is not just about housing discrimination; it is also about human rights or the abuse of it by a country that is supposed to champion civil liberties, democracy and freedom. We operate the only accommodation service for asylum seekers made destitute after being evicted from Council, YMCA and SRC emergency accommodation

2. Further info, please contact Robina Qureshi on 0777 3321727.

3. Log onto www.paih.org to find out about our work, get involved or make a donation.See also www.closedungavelnow.com

Human tragedy of asylum seeker death

Scotland Today – 20 May 2004

Zekria Mohammed fled to the safety of Scotland from his home in Afghanistan to escape the brutal Taliban regime. But it was in Glasgow that he died, taking his own life.

It only rated a short paragraph in the papers - two lines recording the death of an asylum seeker. But there are questions as to why a talented young dentist had to die on the top floor of a tower block 4,000 miles from home. His friends say that he feared he would be deported back to Afghanistan.

For four years, a flat on the 28th floor of a Glasgow tower block had been home to Zekria Mohammed until his friend Ali discovered Zekira had hanged himself.

Zekria, or Zak as he was known, had been a third year dentistry student at the University of Kabul. But four years ago, Afghanistan was still under the brutal regime of the Taliban. His friends have told Scotland Today how Zak, fearing for his life, escaped across the border into Uzbekistan the start of a gruelling journey that would take him thousands of miles miles crossing across two continents. In Hungary, he was arrested and detained for two months. Then, in the back of lorries, he made his way to France and the notorious Sangat refugee camp. After over four months, he finally arrived in Glasgow - one of 8,000 asylum seekers now in the city hoping to start a new life. But he was to be disappointed.

Ali said: "His life was nothing. No permission to work, not enough courses to study, every day the same, threatening letters from Home Office, racial abuse from gangs of teenagers in the street."

Not allowed to work, Zak spent much of his time while waiting for a decision on his future studying in the local library. But a few months ago, with the Taliban overthrown, his application for asylum was refused. His weekly allowance stopped and he lived in daily fear of deportation.

Mohammed Asif from the Scottish Afghan Society said: Afghan asylum seekers don't get asylum. Britain says it's safe. But we know it's not. The government has got to review its policy."

Ali said: If wasn't in fear of his life, wouldn't have spent four years in an open jail + Why classify people so low? Even pets get food. He always said he wanted to be dentist, "I just want to be useful."

In October, the Home Secretary announced a major U-turn which allowed more than 15,000 families to stay in Britain if they had been seeking asylum for more than three years. But as a single man, Zak didn't fit the criteria, and was excluded.

Ali commented: "They first killed his heart and drove him to such a condition that he took his own life."

The Home Office said that while they do not comment on individual cases, the UK is committed to offering asylum to those genuinely seeking asylum. Those who have no legal right to remain here will be liable for removal.