Fury grows after Dungavel suicide

Published on Sunday 25 July 2004 00:06

AN ASYLUM seeker has committed suicide at the controversial Dungavel detention centre, sparking fears that tensions there could erupt into violence.

The 23-year-old man, believed to have been from south-east Asia, was found in the former prison before 10pm on Friday after hanging himself. He was taken to Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride, where he later died.

The man was said to be one of 30 asylum seekers sent to Dungavel from Harmondsworth detention centre in London, which was temporarily closed following riots last week.

His death has raised fears of a fresh wave of violence among fellow detainees who were being held at Harmondsworth when trouble erupted following the suspected suicide of another asylum seeker.

The 31-year-old man was found hanged at the west London centre on Monday night. Within hours, fires were started and windows smashed, and it took prison officers almost two days to regain full control of the centre.

Just weeks ago Home Secretary David Blunkett visited Dungavel and declared conditions and facilities "entirely satisfactory". He added he was impressed by its "caring and dedicated" staff.

Campaigners claimed that the fact a detainee had now taken his own life at Dungavel meant the Home Secretary had "blood on his hands".

There are also warnings that detainees in Dungavel, which houses the children of asylum seekers, are growing increasingly distressed with a lack of psychiatric support to help them.

Human rights lawyer Aamer Anwar, who has clients in the detention centre, said more were now threatening to take their own lives.

He said: "This just shows how barbaric the whole system is, that a young man has taken his own life. These people have committed no crime apart from being foreigners and the Home Secretary David Blunkett has blood on his hands.

"This is another reason why Dungavel should be shut down. They should open the doors and let the people out. Other [Dungavel detainees] are right on the edge. They’ve had enough and are considering suicide because they are in such despair and can’t see a way out."

The former prison, near Strathaven in Lanarkshire, has the capacity to hold almost 150 people and includes a 56-bed family unit. It has been at the centre of controversy over the conditions under which asylum seekers are kept.

In 2002, refugee campaigners demanded an inquiry after a Nigerian asylum seeker held at the centre attempted to commit suicide by driving a seven-inch iron rod into his stomach.

It became notorious last year following publicity over the Ay family - a Kurdish mother and her four children who were detained for more than a year while they appealed their refusal for asylum.

The case provoked calls from politicians, church leaders and human rights groups for Dungavel to be closed. And last year Scottish Socialist MSP Rosie Kane gave a temporary home to one African asylum seeker, Mercy Ikalo, and her daughter.

Many Dungavel inmates are regularly on suicide watch and there have been a number of attempted suicides in the past.

Home Office officials yesterday confirmed a detainee had died at Dungavel but refused to go into any further detail. A spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that there was a death at Dungavel last night."

Police said there were no reports of trouble at the centre at the time of the incident.

A spokesman for Strathclyde Police said: "There would appear to be no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death. A report is being sent to the procurator fiscal."

Dr Ian Duncan, policy and communications manager for the Scottish Refugee Council, said: "This is a tragic situation that an individual felt so bereft of hope that he found the only answer was to take his own life."

Mark Brown, chairman of the Glasgow Campaign to Welcome Refugees, said: "I am horrified but not surprised. In some cases, people would rather take their own lives than return to countries that are not safe."