Body of Iranian asylum seeker discovered in UK settlement center after a month

The body of an Iranian asylum seeker was discovered in his room at a British accommodation center after a month.

According to official data, the number of deaths of asylum seekers living in British government accommodation centres has increased by more than 12 times compared to the figures for 2019. In 2023, the number of asylum seeker deaths was recorded at 4, which increased to 51 in 2024, while the number of asylum applications has also more than doubled during the same period.

According to published information, many of these refugees have died in the British Home Office's accommodation centers last year (2024). According to the Guardian, the number of deaths in these centers in 2024 was about 11 more than in 2023. The Home Office had reported the number of deaths in 2024 as only 30, but after the publication of new information, they corrected the data and then apologized because 21 people had been added to the previous number.

Deborah Coles, director of the charity Inquest, which supports families of those who have died in government facilities, said: "Not only is the UK Home Office failing to properly monitor and respond to these tragic deaths, it is also completely indifferent to the lives of these vulnerable people. Whether the misinformation provided by the Home Office was an inadvertent mistake or a deliberate attempt to cover up remains unclear. But either way, it shows a stark disregard for the vulnerable situation of asylum seekers."

Now, according to reports, the body of an Iranian man, whose identity is still unknown, has been discovered in the center after a month. He lived in a shared residence in Colchester. After a month of not being heard from, his housemates noticed a foul smell coming from his room and immediately called the police. After the police arrived, it was discovered that a month had passed since his death and no one had even noticed his death.

Government sources also confirmed that the body of the Iranian asylum seeker had been left in his room for a month, while the UK Home Office refused to comment on whether the bodies of some asylum seekers had been discovered for a long time.

Human rights organizations and refugee advocates have called on the British government to be more transparent in this regard, while the British Home Office does not publish data on refugee deaths, unlike the Ministry of Justice, which publishes information on deaths in prison.

While the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee is investigating the conditions of asylum seekers in the centres, the charity Asylum Matters has also called on the committee to provide more transparency into the deaths of these asylum seekers.

Maddie Harris, of the Humans for Rights Network, an organization that supports asylum seekers, called on the government to provide immediate transparency about the exact number of deaths. “The Home Office must immediately clarify how many asylum seekers have died in the asylum system and under its care. This information should be released in a transparent and proactive manner, not in a completely opaque manner, as is currently the case,” she said.

The UK Home Office also stated: "All these deaths are investigated in the standard manner by the relevant authorities, including the police and the coroner, to determine the exact cause of death." The Home Office also stressed that organizations providing accommodation services to refugees are required to regularly monitor the welfare of residents and report any problems to the authorities.