24-year-old asylum seeker dies in Germany

A twenty-four year-old asylum seeker in Germany, Hogir, has been found dead.

The deceased was said to have fled from a Kurdish town in Turkey and applied for asylum in Germany where he met his untimely death.

Details of his journey and death were captured in series of post by Seebrücke International an international movement that wants safe passages and an end of the criminalisation of civil sea rescue.

The Seebrücke International’s post reads:

In February of this year, 24-year-old Hogir A, arrived in Germany after fleeing from a Kurdish town in Turkey and applied for asylum. He was placed in the Kusel refugee camp, where his room was repeatedly moved within a very short period of time.

He was subjected to assaults by so-called security staff. He repeatedly tried to approach the centre management with these complaints. However, the interpreters always refused to translate his concerns.

When he informed the BAMF months later, he did not receive any information about counselling centres or other support, but only the feedback that they were not responsible, after which the situation worsened.

He disappeared in October and his brother called the police several times, who did not respond. A month later, on 4th November, he was found dead in the woods near the accommodation. Suicide was recorded as the cause of death.

According to our information, the investigation has already been closed. Important questions remain unanswered. Why was the body not found earlier? It was on the grounds of the accommodation and, according to people on site, should have been discovered there quickly.

There is also the question of whether enough investigation was carried out to rule out the possibility that others were involved. As already described, he was subjected to multiple assaults and harassment.

His body was in such a poor condition that it was difficult to identify him. An additional complicating factor is the question of whether it can be ruled out that this could have been a racist offence.

In Kusel, there had recently been an increase in racist mobilisation against the reception of refugees. The stress to which refugees are exposed in the German asylum system is massively damaging to their mental health and is deliberate violence!

Mental health concerns and illnesses must be recognised and access to reception structures must be provided! We mourn the loss of Hogir and condemn the violence inflicted on him as a person seeking protection. We also demand a thorough investigation into the unanswered questions!

Are you in a crisis yourself? The telephone counselling service is a publicly recognised emergency service for psychological distress, free of charge and anonymous: 0800 / 111 0 111 , 0800 / 111 0 222 or 116 123. you can reach the Muslim telephone counselling service on: 030 443 509 821