ICERAS

Coroner highlights possible increased suicide risk amongst young Eritrean refugees
The Senior Coroner for Inner North London, Ms Mary Hassell, has directed the London
Borough of Camden to alert other local authorities that there may be an increased risk of
suicide amongst Eritrean young people who arrived in the UK as Unaccompanied Asylum
Seeking Children (UASC). The Coroner gave this direction on Wednesday 14 August 2019
during the inquest into the death of Osman Ahmednur, one of four young people who appear
to have taken their lives after arriving in the UK as UASC from Eritrea.
Whilst Osman’s family welcome public scrutiny of this tragic case, they urge the media – and
anyone sharing information pertaining to the case online – to be mindful of the Public Health
England guidance on ‘Suicide Clusters and Contagion’ (and in particular the media advice at
p.24 of that guidance, linked here). This was emphasised by Dr Caroline McKenna,
Associate Medical Director at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, in her
evidence to the inquest on 14 August 2019 when she warned against media reporting of the
specific method by which the young people took their lives.
The inquest into Osman’s death is part-heard and will resume in November 2019. readmore