Border police asked: Were you banging on door when family leapt to deaths?

Published on Monday 8 March 2010 21:42

THREE asylum seekers who fell to their deaths from a block of high-rise flats in an apparent suicide pact were thought to have been a mother, father and son.

• Neighbours and fellow asylumseekers in Glasgow joined together to stage a candlelight vigil in tribute to the three victims who died after falling from a 15th-floor balcony at the weekend. Picture: Getty

The family was thought to be from the former Soviet Union and had been granted asylum in Canada, but left after a dispute with authorities there.

One charity last night demanded to know whether UK Borders Agency officials were banging on the family's door when they died, at Glasgow's notorious Red Road flats.

Positive Action in Housing (PAH), a Scottish charity that offers support to refugees and asylum seekers, described the system as one which "terrorises vulnerable people to the point that they would kill themselves" and called for an inquiry into the deaths.

The bodies of two men and a woman were found at the bottom of a 31-storey block at 63 Petershill Drive, Springburn, at about 8:45am on Sunday.

Some sources suggested the father was in his forties, and that the other male was his stepson.

They plunged from the 15th floor of the tower at the complex.

Their deaths are not being treated as suspicious, and Strathclyde Police said that inquiries are continuing to establish their identities.

PAH said an immediate neighbour of the family reported hearing children in the flat last week.

On Saturday evening, she saw a blonde-haired woman in her late thirties and two males "looking quite serious" while removing bags from their flat. The neighbour suggested the family appeared to be moving out.

PAH director Robina Qureshi said: "We believe that there should be a public inquiry into these deaths, and particularly to do with the impact that the UK Borders Agency (UKBA] has on the lives of asylum seekers who have lived here for years but live in the fear of removal.

"We want to know what role the UKBA played. In particular, we want to know: did the UKBA recently communicate with the three victims over their asylum case? Were officials knocking at the door of the three suicide victims at 63 Petershill Drive, Springburn on Sunday morning when the suicides took place?"

Willie Bain, Labour MP for Glasgow North East, said: "Although the victims of this tragic incident have not been named, I believe I know who they are and had been assisting in their case. They had attended my surgeries and I had provided representations on their behalf.

"It is my understanding that no removal order had been served, but that if one had been they would have been removed to Canada because that is the country where they were living lawfully before travelling to the UK.

"People locally are still in shock, but it is important that the authorities provide clarity on what has happened. It is a very sad case."

Tom Harris, Labour MP for Glasgow South, described it as an appalling tragedy but added: "If we are going to have an asylum system that actually works, we have to have one where people's situation is fully considered and a final decision made on the facts.

"You can't make that judgment a hostage on the basis of threats by the individuals to take their own lives."

The tower block, which is due to be demolished as part of a decade-long regeneration initiative, is owned by Glasgow Housing Association, which lets the majority of flats in the property to the YMCA. The latter organisation has a contract with the Home Office to provide accommodation to those seeking asylum.

A spokesman for YMCA Glasgow said yesterday staff were co-operating with the police investigation.

A spokeswoman for the UK Border Agency said: "It is an ongoing police investigation and we won't be making any comment at the moment."

Timeline of asylum seeker making a claim to stay in UK

1 Asylum seeker arrives in UK.

2 Registers claim at airport, sea port or police station. The majority, including those who arrive in Scotland, are sent to the UK Border Agency in Croydon for screening.

3 Sent somewhere in UK – asylum seekers are dispersed.

4 First "substantive interview" with "caseowner" from UK Border Agency, where asylum seeker explains why they are making a claim and details the "future risk" if sent home.

5 Decision letter issued ten working days later detailing whether some form of protection is to be granted. This can be:

&#149 refugee status – granted indefinite leave to stay in the UK.

&#149 discretionary leave to remain – defined number of reasons granting stay, despite not demonstrating need for protection (eg family within country or health grounds).

&#149 humanitarian protection – granted limited leave as demonstrated need for protection.

6 Majority of asylum seekers – about 70 per cent – receive a refusal. Of the 30 per cent not refused, about 20 per cent get refugee status.

7 Refused applicant has right to appeal to Asylum Immigration Tribunal – 25 per cent are upheld.

8 Further appeal stages only proceed after assessment by asylum seeker's solicitor into likelihood of success. Occasional appeals made to Court of Session or Supreme Court.

9 After application fails , Home Office cuts finance and accommodation, usually within 21 days.

10 Removal order is issued. Possible detention at Dungavel or Yarl's Wood detention centres.