Home Office admits it does not tell families when asylum seekers die in its care

The family of Leonard Farruku, who is believed to have taken his life on the Bibby Stockholm barge, said the Home Office had not informed them of his death. Photograph: Facebook

The Home Office has revealed it does not routinely inform family members when asylum seekers die in its care and does not want to supply details of these deaths publicly in case it upsets them and “endangers their mental health”.

The disclosure comes at a time when there have been 176 deaths from all causes since 2020 and a doubling in the number of suicides over this period with at least 23 people taking their lives.