UK asylum seekers at ‘unprecedented’ risk of suicide amid deportation threat

One-third of detainees at immigration centre who had crossed Channel on constant suicide watch

The Home Office's rush to deport asylum seekers who had crossed the Channel in small boats last year led to unprecedented levels" of those at risk of suicide, a watchdog has found.

During the period between the end of July to December 2020, when the Home Office was operating a programme of compressed" charter flights, one-third of the detainees at Brook House immigration removal centre near Gatwick were placed on constant suicide watch, the Independent Monitoring Board [IMB] found.