The Home Office does not publish data on the deaths of asylum seekers in its housing...
... despite calls from experts and campaigners to do so. We set out to gather as much information as possible about each of them. Here, we tell their stories.
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Name unknown
Male
/
19
/
Eritrean
died on or around:
12/11/2022
11/12/2022
Cause of death:
Not known
housing provider:
Clearsprings Ready Homes
Location:
South
,
London
2022/11
20221112
A 19-year-old Eritrean man was found dead on 12 November 2022. He had been awaiting the outcome of his claim for nine months, and was likely housed in a hotel since the accommodation type is listed in Home Office records as “Initial - Overflow”.
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Name unknown
Male
/
54
/
Sudanese
died on or around:
14/12/2022
12/14/2022
Cause of death:
Not known
housing provider:
Clearsprings Ready Homes
Location:
South
,
2022/12
20221214
This 54-year-old Sudanese man arrived in the UK on 18 January 2022 and submitted an asylum claim the same day. On 14 December, a housing officer notified a manager at Clearsprings Ready Homes that the man had been found dead in his property.
He was awaiting an asylum decision when he died. The cause of death is unknown and a coroner’s investigation is taking place.
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Name unknown
Female
/
48
/
Nigerian
died on or around:
17/12/2022
12/17/2022
Cause of death:
Not known
housing provider:
Serco
Location:
North West
,
2022/12
20221217
This 48-year-old woman from Nigeria arrived in the UK on 5 May 2015 and sought asylum, according to the Home Office Incident Database. Further submissions on her claim were refused on 13 October 2016.
Serco officials visited her asylum accommodation in the North West of England on 19 December 2022 and spoke to her daughter, who told them her mother had died two days earlier. An autopsy was due to take place to confirm the cause of death.
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Name unknown
Male
/
40
/
American
died on or around:
22/12/2022
12/22/2022
Cause of death:
Suicide
housing provider:
Clearsprings Ready Homes
Location:
South
,
2022/12
20221222
This 40-year-old American man arrived in the UK on 16 November 2022 and submitted a claim for asylum, according to the Home Office Incident Database.
In late December, staff at accommodation operated by Clearsprings Ready Homes called the police to advise that the man had left the hotel with a knife. Police officers later advised the hotel that the man had been found, and that he had self-harmed.
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Name unknown
Male
/
56
/
Iranian
died on or around:
13/9/2022
9/13/2022
Cause of death:
Not known
housing provider:
Mears
Location:
Scotland
,
2022/09
20220913
This Iranian man died just a few months after being granted asylum. He arrived in the UK on 26 May 2020 and applied for asylum shortly afterwards. His claim was approved on 22 April 2022. Home Office records indicate he “passed away in hospital” on or around 13 September, aged 56.
No further cause of death is provided but the incident is listed as “explained”. The Home Office has previously said it categorises deaths in this way when it has determined the cause and concluded it is neither suicide nor suspicious or criminal in nature.
An incident report completed by the man's housing provider states he was survived by a son who was also in the UK.
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Name unknown
Female
/
51
/
Nigerian
died on or around:
28/10/2022
10/28/2022
Cause of death:
Not known
housing provider:
Clearsprings Ready Homes
Location:
South
,
2022/10
20221028
This Nigerian woman arrived in the UK on 25 April 2020 and applied for asylum the same day. The Home Office Incident Database indicates she "passed away in hospital” on or around 28 October 2022. She was 51. Her asylum claim was unresolved at the time she died.
No specific cause of death is provided but the incident is listed as “explained”, meaning the Home Office concluded the death was neither suicide nor suspicious or criminal in nature.
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Name unknown
Male
/
24
/
Cameroonian
died on or around:
7/11/2022
11/7/2022
Cause of death:
Not known
housing provider:
Serco
Location:
North West
,
2022/11
20221107
This 24-year-old Cameroonian man “passed away … on the night of the 7th November”, according to the Home Office Incident Database. No further details of his death are recorded.
He had arrived in the UK on 13 July 2020 and applied for asylum the same day. His claim was still outstanding when he died.
Despite no cause of death being recorded, the Home Office lists the man’s death as “explained”. The Home Office has previously said it categorises deaths as “explained” when it has determined that they aren’t suicide, and are not suspicious or criminal in nature.
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Name unknown
Male
/
54
/
Sudanese
died on or around:
13/12/2022
12/13/2022
Cause of death:
Not known
housing provider:
Clearsprings Ready Homes
Location:
South
,
2022/12
20221213
This 54-year-old Sudanese man arrived in the UK in January 2022 and died the following December, while still housed in initial accommodation (i.e. accommodation intended to be temporary) in the south of England, according to the Home Office Incident Database.
His record says he died from unspecified “natural causes”.
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Name unknown
Male
/
29
/
Iranian
died on or around:
22/8/2022
8/22/2022
Cause of death:
Suicide
housing provider:
Mears
Location:
North East, Yorkshire and the Humber
,
2022/08
20220801
This 29-year-old Iranian man died by suicide while being provided with Home Office housing in the north of England.
A heavily redacted High Profile Notification relating to his death, disclosed under information laws, contains few details about the circumstances of his death. The summary of the incident simply says: “Email received from<redacted>, advising that the customer has died by <redacted>. Attached was email from <redacted>
“<Redacted>
“They are currently awaiting the coroner to attend the site.”
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Name Unknown
Male
/
31
/
Iraqi
died on or around:
1/12/2022
12/1/2022
Cause of death:
Not known
housing provider:
Serco
Location:
North West
,
2022/01
20220112
This Iraqi man arrived in the UK on 23 January 2008 and applied for asylum on the same day. Nearly 15 years later, after his asylum claim had been rejected, he died.
Home Office officials checked a box in their records indicating his case involved self harm or suicide. They also wrote the death was “not treated as souspicious [sic] due to medical history”.
An incident report completed by the man's housing provider says he was found dead after concerns were raised by a support worker.
The Home Office provides no further details in its records, but lists the man’s death as “explained”. It has previously said it categorises a death as “explained” when it has concluded it is neither suicide nor suspicious or criminal in nature.
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NAME UNKNOWN
Male
/
0
/
Kuwaiti
died on or around:
1/2/2022
2/1/2022
Cause of death:
Medical
housing provider:
Serco
Location:
Midlands and East of England
,
2022/02
20220201
The baby of a Kuwaiti asylum seeker died after being born prematurely, according to the Home Office’s Incident Database. The record simply says: “[Redacted]'s baby, who was born prematurely and had medical conditions owing to this, has passed away.”
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NAME UNKNOWN
Male
/
36
/
Eritrean
died on or around:
1/3/2022
3/1/2022
Cause of death:
Not known
housing provider:
Serco
Location:
North West
,
2022/03
20220301
This 36-year-old Eritrean man died in March 2022. His death was revealed by an FOI request about the deaths of people receiving asylum support whose last registered address was asylum housing. No further details were provided.
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