We are horrified today to find out that twenty nine people have lost their lives in asylum accommodation across the UK this year.
This is five-times the number of people who have died crossing the Channel in 2020.
It is clear that the UK’s asylum system is failing to keep people safe. Twenty nine people who came here searching for safety and peace have lost their lives.
This is unacceptable and our thoughts are with everyone who has lost friends and family members in this difficult year.
Sabir Zazai, Chief Executive at Scottish Refugee Council:
“Today’s figures are horrific. This has been a really difficult year for people seeking safety in the UK. Covid-19 restrictions have merged with extremely hostile immigration policies to create an unsafe environment for people who came here seeking safety.
“Across the country, people are being held in hotel rooms, military barracks and detention centres with no control over their day to day lives, no voice and no end in sight, struggling with loneliness, digital exclusion and poverty.
“We know that the UK can do better than this. The UK must do better than this. Every one of these individuals was a son or daughter, mother, father, sister, brother, friend. We can’t accept their deaths as just a hazard of the UK’s asylum system. This cannot go on.”
