And that dismal cry rose slowly
And sank slowly through the air
Full of spirit's melancholy
And eternity's despair!
And they heard the words it said
Mikhail is dead, Mikhail is dead

Mikhail Bodnarchuk
    It is with great sadness that we tell you that Mikhail Bodnarchuk, an asylum seeker from the Ukraine, took his own life in Haslar Immigration Removal/detention Prison, on Friday the 31st January 2003.

     Mikhail, arrived in the UK in September 2000, his claim for asylum was refused and he was to be deported on Friday 31st January 2003

     For detainees life in detention is heart breaking and the thoughts of pending removal can drive them to despair and push them to the edge and occasionally as with Mikhail, rather than be removed they take their own life.

    Bail for Immigration Detainees, estimate there has been at least 10 attempts at self harm by detainees in Haslar, since it became a dedicated removal centre.

     This week the Home Affairs Committee on Removals, has been sitting and the question of suicides and self harm was raised in the session on Tuesday 28th January.

    Below we reprint in part the press release from the Institute of Race Relations on the session relating to suicides and self harm.

     " When the companies were questioned about attempted suicides and 'successful' suicides of asylum seekers in their care, they gave figures for attempted suicides, but all insisted that no suicide attempt had been successful. However, the Institute of Race Relations' records show otherwise. In fact, there have been two suicides of detained asylum seekers at Harmondsworth detention centre, run by Group 4 at the time.

     * Lithuanian asylum seeker Robertas Grabys, 49, was found hanged in Harmondsworth detention centre on 24 January 2000. The Home Office had attempted to deport Robertas two days prior to his death.

     * Kimpua Nsimba was found hanged on 16 June 1990 at Harmondsworth Detention Centre. He arrived in the UK ten days earlier and had been detained at Heathrow. The day before his death when he did not come down for food, Group 4 searched the building. When he was not found, it was reported that he had absconded. A cleaner found his body the next day. Group 4 could not explain how he was missed the day before."

     There are many thousands of asylum seekers and refugees, in detention around the world, as a token of remembrance for Mikail Bodnarchuk, we would ask all who read this message who have not yet signed the Online petition for the detained *Mandaeans in Australia, to do so today.

*Online Petition to help Mandaean refugees in detention in Australia

With deepest sorrow,
                                        NCADC