Four young Eritrean asylum seekers have taken their own lives in UK in last year after being smuggled across Channel from Calais' Jungle camp

  • Four Eritrean asylum seekers have committed suicide within the past year
  • The young men, aged between 18 and 19, had travelled from the Calais camp
  • Three had known each other and were stressed over applying for refugee status
  • Their deaths raise concerns over how young refugees are being treated in UK

Four young Eritrean asylum seekers have taken their own lives in the UK in the past year after being smuggled across the Channel from Calais' Jungle camp.

Alexander Tekle, 18; Filmon Yemane, 18; a 19-year-old known as N; and an unnamed male whose name and age have not been publicly announced, have all taken their lives since last year.

Tekle, Yemane and N had all known each other and were extremely stressed over the process of applying for refugee status, according to another Eritrean asylum seeker who knew the teens.

Their deaths have raised concerns over how young refugees are being treated in the UK, as the boys were at an age where they were not eligible for support and were unable to work.

Alexander Tekle, 18, is one of four young Eritrean asylum seekers to have taken his own life within the past year after arriving in the UK from Calais. The teenager died in December 

Alexander Tekle, 18, is one of four young Eritrean asylum seekers to have taken his own life within the past year after arriving in the UK from Calais. The teenager died in December 

Their deaths have raised concerns over how young refugees are being treated in the UK, as the boys were at an age where they were not eligible for support and were unable to work. Pictured: Calais Jungle camp 

Their deaths have raised concerns over how young refugees are being treated in the UK, as the boys were at an age where they were not eligible for support and were unable to work. Pictured: Calais Jungle camp 

Yemane had just turned 18 years old when he committed suicide in November. An inquest heard in April that he was in a 'state of crisis' before his death, reported the Guardian

And although employees at his hostel notified NHS mental health staff of his condition, concerns were not 'escalated appropriately within the crisis team'.

Tekle took his life in early December, a year after he smuggled himself in the country on a refrigerated lorry. He had spent a brutal year in the Calais camp.

N, whose family asked not to reveal his full name, committed suicide in May at the same north London sheltered accommodation where Yemane had lived.   

Hamid, an Eritrean asylum seeker who came to Britain three years ago and still has not received a refugee status, knew the three teens, Tekle, Yemane and N.

Speaking to the Guardian, Hamid said: 'Alex [Tekle] and I were close friends. He was such a nice guy but he was giving up on life.

'He was stressing about Home Office things – we all were. I tried to tell him not to worry too much, but he was thinking about it all the time. '

Benjamin Hunter, who met Tekle while working in Calais, said Tekle was anxious over his status and had endured horrible conditions in both France and the UK. Pictured: Hunter and Tekle

Benjamin Hunter, who met Tekle while working in Calais, said Tekle was anxious over his status and had endured horrible conditions in both France and the UK. Pictured: Hunter and Tekle

He continued: 'He was saying: once you have your papers, you can start your life, you can start college. He wanted to start work; he wanted to send money to his mother. Without papers you can't work.'

Benjamin Hunter, who met Tekle while working as a volunteer in Calais, also said the teen was anxious over his status, after enduring horrible conditions in both France and the UK.

Speaking to the paper, Hunter said: 'Alex experienced deeply traumatic events on his journey to the UK, in particular in Libya and in Calais, where he lived alone in a tent for as long as a year, subject to abuse and neglect.'

Hunter said that when Tekle came to the UK, he was told he was not eligible for support as a child or care-leaver. 

Tekle was then placed 'outside of care, in a hostel for adult asylum seekers where he was violently assaulted,' Hunter said.

He added: 'Alex was stressed about the well-being of his family, about the uncertainty of his future and in particular was stressed by his asylum claim and the thought that he might be deported.

'The last thing he said to me, the day before he died, was, ''Why have I not received my papers, like my friends have?'''

Tekle, Yemane and N, had all known each other and were stressed over the process of applying for refugee status, according to another Eritrean asylum seeker who knew the teens. Pictured: Eritrean refugees in Italy

Tekle, Yemane and N, had all known each other and were stressed over the process of applying for refugee status, according to another Eritrean asylum seeker who knew the teens. Pictured: Eritrean refugees in Italy

After Tekle died, Hunter set up a crowdfunding page to raise money to send the teen's body back to Eritrea, where his family wanted him buried. 

Writing on the page, Hunter said: 'Alex was a kind, loving and very special young man who had just recently turned 18. He was a cherished friend, brother and son who was so loved by so many and will be forever missed.' 

Tekle's father Tecle Sium Tesfamichel, who lives as a refugee in Sudan, has spoken out about the way his son was treated in the UK, calling for the government to do a better job to look after children.

He said: 'I want to know this doesn't happen to children and young people again. 

'These children, who have to leave home through no fault of their own, are traumatised on their journey through the desert and the sea. 

'It is the job of the authorities to look after and guide these children, who come to the UK alone. They shouldn't come to die.'

The family's legal team want a coroner to investigate the mental health care Tekle received, and examine the actions of local officials who were tasked to look after him.

For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or see ww.samaritans.org. 

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