Asylum seeker commits suicide after move from Harmondsworth

An asylum seeker, who was moved from Harmondsworth Immigration
Removal Centre to Dungavel detention centre following riots last
week, has committed suicide just days after campaigners voiced
fears about the safety of detainees, writes Clare
Jerrom.

A Home Office spokesperson confirmed that a 23-year-old Vietnamese
male had been found in an accommodation unit at the former prison
in Lanarkshire and was later pronounced dead. Investigations by the
police and prisons and probation ombudsman would ensue, she
added.

Around 440 detainees were transferred from Harmondsworth, west
London, to prisons and other centres after the death of another
detainee sparked a “serious disturbance” last
week.

A riot broke out after a man was found hanged in his cell, believed
to have committed suicide. Seventeen people have been arrested in
connection with the disturbance.

Anne Owers, chief inspector of prisons, last year slammed
Harmondsworth as “essentially an unsafe place for both staff
and detainees.”