A leading mental health charity is warning the asylum system is increasing the risk of suicide among asylum seekers and refugees.
Content warning: this article contains references to suicide
The Mental Health Foundation says the way the asylum system is set up is “consistently undermining and damaging asylum seekers’ mental health”, leading to an increased risk of suicide.
The charity’s chief executive, Mark Rowland, told Sky News the current system, which prevents people from working for 12 months, is creating an “emergency situation”.
He says people who get supported by his charity report that the asylum system is so traumatic that it’s “leading them to consider taking their own lives”, adding their mental health problems have “never been worse”.
In a fresh call, Mr Rowland is urging the government to start recording suicides among asylum seekers as part of official statistics.
He says charities in the sector are struggling to tackle the issue from a public health perspective because of the lack of data.
Sami Gichki, now 21, was 10 years old when his family fled political persecution in Pakistan and came to the UK.
He came from Balochistan in the southwest of the country and told Sky News that around a dozen of his relatives had been assassinated due to their political beliefs.
He spent a decade waiting for a Home Office decision on his refugee status and says he became suicidal due to his inability to work or continue studying without financial support when he finished sixth form. He says it left him without a “sense of purpose”.
He said he ended up in A&E because of his suicidal thoughts, believing he “would be better off dead” than in the asylum system.
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Reflecting on cases like Sami’s, Mr Rowland says the situation is creating a “perfect storm”, where people who have often undergone trauma are subjected to a highly stressful asylum system.
The remarks come after statistics published by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research suggest allowing asylum seekers to work after just six months could save £4.4bn in government savings, deliver £1bn in growth and raise £880m in tax revenue.
When questioned about whether this would create a greater “pull factor” for economic migration, Mr Rowland said, “this isn’t why an asylum seeker chooses a place of safety”.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are determined to continue cracking down on anyone working illegally in the UK, and we certainly have no intention of creating a fast-track process so that people who come to the UK outside the established work visa rules are simply allowed to ignore them.
“We take the welfare of those in our care very seriously, but relaxing the rules on illegal working is not an acceptable solution.”
:: Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
