Asylum seeker’s deportation ticket canceled after suicide attempt

An Eritrean asylum seeker scheduled for forcible removal to France on Wednesday under the ‘one in, one out’ scheme had his ticket canceled after a serious suicide attempt, The Guardian has learned.

Other detainees said they believed the man attempted suicide because he feared danger in France due to his specific circumstances if returned. He was found Tuesday by his cellmate, who raised the alarm, and is now under round-the-clock suicide watch in detention.

Under a UK-France treaty signed in August, one asylum seeker arriving in the UK by small boat from France is returned in exchange for a person who has not attempted to cross the Channel. The Home Office reported 605 returns to France as of April 28, with 581 brought to the UK. On May 9, 196 people crossed in three boats.

Self-harm incidents are common among detainees, many with trauma histories. Some previously attempted self-harm or suicide under the ‘one in, one out’ program were later deemed fit to fly. In one recent case, a man with self-harm scars across his body was bandaged and placed on a plane after a medical assessment, Home Office officials said.

A detainee who witnessed Tuesday’s incident said: ‘We think the man had been in detention for 17 or 18 days. When he found out he had been given a ticket for France he said he felt so emotionally tired after everything he had been through. We think that is why he tried to end his life. We feel so sorry about what happened to him. We are all in the same situation, but we don’t want to see anyone end their life over being sent to France.’

Emma Ginn, director of the charity Medical Justice, which supports immigration detainees, said: ‘Of 20 of our clients detained for “one in, one out” assessed by our independent clinicians, all 20 had clinical evidence of a history of torture, ill treatment and/or trafficking, and all 20 had serious mental health conditions.’

She added: ‘The news of what is understood to be another serious suicide attempt cannot come as a surprise to the Home Office. We and others have repeatedly warned that safeguards are so dysfunctional that more suicide attempts and even deaths could result.’

The Home Office has been approached for comment.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org.