The asylum seeker who died on the Bibby Stockholm barge, as a result of a suspected suicide, has been identified as Leonard Farruku.
Farruku, who was first named by The Telegraph newspaper, was a 27-year-old Albanian national.
Farruku’s death marks the second time an Albanian national has died in the space of four weeks, following a suspected suicide.
On 17 November, 37-year-old Alfred Dosku died after attempting to take his own life. Before his death, Dosku spent days in a critical condition in hospital.
Another asylum seeker also tried to take his own life in October.
After finding that he was due to be moved to the Bibby Stockholm barge, a 23-year-old asylum seeker from Nigeria made a suicide attempt in Essex.
The young man was airlifted to Colchester General Hospital, where he was left in a critical condition.
The Bibby Stockholm barge has been used to house asylum seekers since August. However, just days after boarding the boat, which is moored in Portland, Dorset, the group of men were evacuated after the discovery of Legionella in the water system.
Legionella is a bacteria that is known to cause Legionnaires’ disease – a fatal illness.
Ten weeks after the legionella scare, the group of male asylum seekers were forced to return to the barge.
The Bibby Stockholm barge has already been met with much controversy after the government revealed that it had spent more than £22 million of taxpayers’ money on “housing”.
The government have since come under fire after asylum seekers spoke to reporters about how the conditions of the barge have deteriorated since more people have moved into the “vessel accommodation”.
I joined the Solidarity Knows No Borders vigil for the asylum seeker, Leonard Farruku, with my family today. Leonard died on the Bibby Stockholm.
Demonstrators then laid flowers at Bibby’s office in his memory. pic.twitter.com/DmNb1fvGWl
— Alan Gibbons (@mygibbo) December 18, 2023
Barge residents were becoming fearful of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s emergency Rwanda Treaty.
One asylum seeker, who spoke to reporters on conditions of anonymity, said: “The boat is like a prison and more and more things are going wrong.”
“We are all feeling very distressed. The Home Office wants to close our eyes and blindfold us,” he added.
According to the BBC, who also spoke to those being housed on the barge, a number of asylum seekers told reporters that Farruku was heard shouting in a corridor just hours before his body was found.
After being told by the Home Office, that the alleged suicide was an “unfortunate incident”, one asylum seeker explained: “Everyone is terrified. That’s mainly due to the secrecy of the barge’s management over the situation, like they’re trying to find a convincing story to tell us and the public.”
Another person, who also requested to remain anonymous, told reporters that the barge residents were becoming fearful of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s emergency Rwanda Treaty.
“The conditions are getting worse and worse. We are terrified they will unlock the boat and sail it away to Rwanda,” he said.
“People are hearing increasing bad news. They are afraid they will be going to Rwanda and are very depressed. People are crying. They feel like they’re in a jail,” one asylum seeker went on to explain.
While reports predict that the 27-year-old took his own life, Home Secretary James Cleverly said that the fatality is being “fully investigated”.
Campaigners, who have wider concerns about the treatment and housing of asylum seekers on the Bibby Stockholm barge, have been calling for an independent investigation into the death of Farruku.
At the beginning of this week, the refugee charity, Care4Calais, hosted a vigil at the port out of respect for the Albanian national.
“This will now be investigated by the police and coroner. It is right that the facts and circumstances surrounding this death are established,” a spokesperson for the Home Office said.
Maria Wilby, the Operational Leader at Rama, a refugee charity, recognised that the number of suicide attempts amongst asylum seekers “is the strongest possible protest against that inhumanity, and also shows just how much the Bibby Stockholm is feared”.
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