Darfuri teenager killed himself after being told – wrongly – of deportation

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Darfuri teenager killed himself after being told – wrongly – of deportation

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/darfuri-teenager-killed-himself-after-being-told-ndash-wrongly-ndash-of-deportation-1990011.html



Abdullah Idris, left, was active in trying to raise awareness about the plight of Darfur before his suicide

By Robert Verkaik, Home Affairs Editor

Thursday, 3 June 2010

Abdullah Hagar Idris had been counting the days to his release from prison so he could start a new life in Britain after fleeing persecution in his Darfur homeland.

But on Christmas Eve 2007 a prison officer handed the 18-year-old a document making it clear that the Home Office had decided he was to be kept behind bars pending deportation.

The news came as a cruel shock to the young man who could not bear the thought of returning to Sudan where he knew he would be hunted down and murdered by the feared Arab militia.

When prison officers opened his cell door on Christmas Day they found Abdullah had used his own sheets to hang himself.

This week a coroner heard how Abdullah had a poor comprehension of English and could not properly understand the meaning of the Home Office documents.

If he had been able to speak to a solicitor he would have realised Britain had stopped sending immigrants back to Darfur because of violence and that his claim for asylum had a real prospect of success.

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. oh, that's terrible! That poor young man.