The Home Office are  responsible for the death of Rawand Muhammad Ali and Awat Ahmad.

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On Tuesday 16th May Awat Ahmad, a Kurdish asylum seeker, lost his life at his work place for unknown reasons. The place of his death is still closed and Awat’s body was being kept at St. George’s hospital in London and later through the help of IFIR their bodies have been sent back to their families in Kurdistan.
Awat was 29 years old. According to his cousin, he came to the UK as a refugee in 2006 when he was under 18, and was granted temporary permission to stay. However, after he came of age his permission was not renewed and he remained in the country without official “leave to remain”.

Khalid, one of his friends, said: “Awat’s wish was to get permanent residency in the UK. He was a hard worker and a kind person. He worked in the car wash for the past few years.”
Khalid added: “I saw him in the last month, he asked me for a music CD and said to me, ‘I wish I get residency before I die.’ I tried to comfort him.”

Rawand Muhammad Ali was 33 years old. Rawand from north of Iraq he came to the UK in 2008, and because of the pressure of his asylum claim he became mentally ill until 11th of June he committed suicide in Manchester Hill Park.  Dashty Jamal, secretary of the International Federation of Iraqi Refugees said: “Our thoughts are with Rawand and Awat’s families and friends through these difficult times.
This tragic and sudden death is by no means the first of its kind. Many Iraqi Kurdish asylum seekers, as well as many refugees of other nationalities, have committed suicide in the last 10 years, when they were threatened with deportation or simply after years of refusal and waiting.”Dashty Jamal added: “Rawand and Awat’s dream to get UK residency never came true. He is another victim of the inhuman politics of the British government against asylum seekers. The UK Government must start an investigation into these deaths as soon as possible. Our federation is ready to stand with Rawand and Awat’s family in order to achieve this.”

Dashty also said “both Rawand and Awat’s bodies have been returned to Kurdistan and buried by their families and IFIR Kurdistan branch”.