LONDON: A teenage asylum seeker from Afghanistan who feared the UK Home Office would deport him killed himself, a coroner has concluded.
The unnamed 19-year-old is also thought to have been a victim of modern slavery at a Birmingham pizza shop in which he had been working without payment, the Metro newspaper reported on Thursday.
The teenager was found dead in the garden of his accommodation in April this year, five years after arriving in the UK unaccompanied aged 13.
He had claimed asylum and was given temporary leave to remain in Britain, but was once again at risk of deportation when he turned 18.
The inquest into his death heard that he was anxious about his immigration case, and was struggling to keep himself clean or study for college amid anxiety over his status.
The Home Office has sent thousands of refused asylum seekers back to Afghanistan, including many who arrived as unaccompanied children once they turned 18.
More than 3,000 Afghans in the UK have been refused asylum amnesty since the Taliban retook the country in August, and are now awaiting decisions on their claims.
According to The Guardian, the young man’s personal adviser, Stacy Clifford, said she had been worried that this could happen to him.
“He was a bit upset because he hadn’t heard from his solicitor about his immigration case,” she told the inquest.
This is not the first time an asylum seeker or refugee living in the UK has committed suicide.
At least four people living in Home Office accommodation for asylum seekers are known to have killed themselves in the last five years, but a report by a local London charity earlier this year found that the true figure is closer to a dozen.
Many of those who killed themselves were awaiting decisions that would decide whether or not they could remain in the UK long term.
In one case, a group of four young friends from Eritrea killed themselves within a 16-month period, with several suspected to have been suffering from serious but undiagnosed mental health conditions.
Commenting on the Birmingham case, a Home Office spokesperson said they were “saddened” by the death of the teenager, adding: “Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this difficult time.”
