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
/
53
/
Nationality not known
died on or around:
15/3/2023
3/15/2023
Cause of death:
Cardiac/suspected cardiac
housing provider:
Serco
Location:
Midlands and East of England
,
2023/03
20230315
This 53-year-old man suffered a massive cardiac arrest and passed away in hospital, according to the Home Office’s Incident Database.
Internal notes state there were no suspicious circumstances relating to his death.
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NAME UNKNOWN
Male
/
23
/
Nationality not known
died on or around:
9/5/2023
5/9/2023
Cause of death:
Road traffic accident
housing provider:
Serco
Location:
,
2023/05
20230509
This 23-year-old man died two days after being involved in a hit and run accident on 7 May 2023, according to the Home Office’s Incident Database.
The man, whose nationality has been redacted from the database, arrived in Britain in October 2022.
He had been staying in initial accommodation in the “Midlands and East of England” asylum accommodation contract region, operated by private firm Serco, according to the records.
The Home Office decided in 2023 to begin redacting nationalities from the Incident Database, despite having provided this information in previous disclosures. As a result, it is not currently known where the deceased originated from.
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NAME UNKNOWN
Male
/
24
/
Nationality not known
died on or around:
17/5/2023
5/17/2023
Cause of death:
Possible/suspected suicide
housing provider:
Serco
Location:
Midlands and East of England
,
2023/05
20230517
This 24-year-old man was found dead in a river, according to the Home Office’s Incident Database. The cause of death was marked as unconfirmed but notes in the internal records indicate this as a “self-harm/suicide” case.
The man, whose nationality has been redacted from the records, arrived in Britain in March 2023 and the outcome of his asylum application had not yet been decided at the time of his death.
He was being housed in the “Midlands and East of England” asylum accommodation contract region, operated by private firm Serco
The Home Office decided in 2023 to begin redacting nationalities from the Incident Database, despite having provided this information in previous disclosures. As a result, it is not currently known where the deceased originated from.
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NAME UNKNOWN
Male
/
27
/
Nationality not known
died on or around:
30/5/2023
5/30/2023
Cause of death:
Not known
housing provider:
Mears
Location:
North East, Yorkshire and the Humber
,
2023/05
20230530
This 27-year-old man was found dead after previously being reported as a missing person, according to the Home Office Incident Database.
He had arrived in Britain in January 2022 and was being housed in dispersal asylum accommodation in the North, East Yorkshire and Humber region while awaiting a decision on his application for refugee status.
The Home Office’s database contains few details about this case. It says the man’s cause of death was not known but the circumstances of the death were “not suspicious”.
The Home Office decided in 2023 to begin redacting nationalities from the Incident Database, despite having provided this information in previous disclosures. As a result, it is not currently known where the deceased originated from.
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NAME UNKNOWN
Cardiac/suspected cardiac
/
45
/
Nationality not known
died on or around:
30/5/2023
5/30/2023
Cause of death:
Cardiac/suspected cardiac
housing provider:
Clearsprings Ready Homes
Location:
South
,
2023/05
20230530
A man with a chronic heart condition who applied for asylum in 2016 died in hospital while still awaiting a decision from the Home Office, according to the department’s Incident Database.
The 45-year-old was being housed in the south of England in asylum accommodation run by the private firm Clearsprings Ready Homes.
The records state he had suffered from cardiomyopathy.
The Home Office decided in 2023 to begin redacting nationalities from the Incident Database, despite having provided this information in previous disclosures. As a result, it is not currently known where the deceased originated from.
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NAME UNKNOWN
Male
/
57
/
Nationality not known
died on or around:
9/6/2023
6/9/2023
Cause of death:
Not known
housing provider:
Clearsprings Ready Homes
Location:
South
,
2023/06
20230609
Details pertaining to the death of this 57-year-old man, found dead at his asylum accommodation in the south of England, are particularly scarce. A record in the Home Office’s Incident Database simply says: “[Service User] body found at the property.”
The man’s case is flagged in the database as having a “safeguarding element” - a label officials assign to individuals recognised as having vulnerabilities or needs such as a health problem.
He applied for asylum in 2005 and was awaiting a decision on his claim for refugee status.
He was being housed under Section 4 of the Asylum Act 1999, which may indicate his claim had initially been rejected and he was undergoing an appeal.
The Home Office decided in 2023 to begin redacting nationalities from the Incident Database, despite having provided this information in previous disclosures. As a result, it is not currently known where the deceased originated from.
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NAME UNKNOWN
Male
/
35
/
Nationality not known
died on or around:
7/7/2023
7/7/2023
Cause of death:
Not known
housing provider:
Serco
Location:
North West
,
2023/07
20230707
The details pertaining to the death of this 35-year-old asylum seeker being housed in the North West of England are particularly sparse. Records in the Home Office Incident Database simply state: “Customer has passed away, cause of death and location unknown”.
He had arrived in Britain and claimed asylum in October 2021 and was awaiting a decision on his application for refugee status at the time of his death.
The Home Office decided in 2023 to begin redacting nationalities from the Incident Database, despite having provided this information in previous disclosures. As a result, it is not currently known where the deceased originated from.
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NAME UNKNOWN
Male
/
88
/
Not known
died on or around:
28/7/2023
7/28/2023
Cause of death:
Cancer-related
housing provider:
Clearsprings Ready Homes
Location:
South
,
202307
20230728
This 88-year-old asylum seeker died after being diagnosed with terminal cancer and Parkinson’s, according to the Home Office’s Incident Database. He applied for asylum in August 2022 and was awaiting a decision on his claim at the time of his death.
The Home Office decided in 2023 to begin redacting nationalities from the Incident Database, despite having provided this information in previous disclosures. As a result, it is not currently known where the deceased originated from.
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NAME UNKNOWN
Male
/
53
/
Nationality not known
died on or around:
11/8/2023
8/11/2023
Cause of death:
Not known
housing provider:
Mears
Location:
Northern Ireland
,
202308
20230811
This 53-year-old man died in his accommodation less than three months after arriving in Britain and seeking asylum, according to the Home Office’s Incident Database.
His cause of death is yet to be confirmed. The entry says: “Customer was found unresponsive in his accommodation and pronounced dead by paramedics when they arrived on the scene.”
The Home Office decided in 2023 to begin redacting nationalities from copies of the Incident Database disclosed to reporters, despite having provided this information in previous disclosures. As a result, it is not currently known where the deceased originated from.
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NAME UNKNOWN
Female
/
27
/
Nationality not known
died on or around:
25/8/2023
8/25/2023
Cause of death:
Not known
housing provider:
Mears
Location:
North East, Yorkshire and the Humber
,
2023/08
20230825
This 27-year-old woman was found unresponsive at her asylum accommodation by her neighbours, according to the Home Office’s Incident Database. Paramedics performed CPR but were unable to save her, the record states. Her cause of death is yet to be confirmed.
The woman had arrived in Britain in June 2022 and was awaiting a decision on her application for refugee status.
The Home Office decided in 2023 to begin redacting nationalities from copies of the Incident Database disclosed to reporters, despite having provided this information in previous disclosures. As a result, it is not currently known where the deceased originated from.
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NAME UNKNOWN
Female
/
63
/
Senegalese
died on or around:
13/6/2022
6/13/2022
Cause of death:
Medical
housing provider:
None
Location:
Midlands and East of England
,
2022/06
20220613
This 63-year-old Senegalese woman died in a care home from suspected organ failure, according to the Incident Database.
She had been admitted to hospital shortly after being placed in dispersal (long-term) asylum accommodation in the Midlands and was placed in a care home at the start of June 2022.
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Name withheld at family’s request
Male
/
77
/
Salvadoran
died on or around:
15/5/2020
5/15/2020
Cause of death:
Covid-19/possible Covid-19
housing provider:
Mears
Location:
North East, Yorkshire and the Humber
,
Wakefield
2020/05
20200515
This 77-year-old grandfather from El Salvador died in hospital on 15 May 2020 from Covid-19. He had been admitted to hospital after suffering breathing difficulties at a hotel he was staying at in Wakefield.
Relatives claim he first became ill on 23 April but that Mears staff ignored their repeated requests for medical help. They say he was required to self-isolate from 28 April, the same day Covid-19 tests were made available to over-65s, but no effort was made to test him.
The man's family claim nobody checked on him while he remained in isolation, without medication to alleviate his symptoms, for a further six days. Mears has denied this, saying he was monitored by an on-site team.
After learning of the severity of his condition by telephone, relatives say they "had to beg" for him to be taken to hospital on 5 May. Medical records made on his arrival suggest he had been suffering shortness of breath for two weeks. He died ten days later, on 15 May.
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