Unwanted, Unnoticed: an audit of 160 asylum and immigration-related deaths in Europe oesophagal and gastric diseases). In 2012 he was arrested for an assault, and was unable to contact his lawyer because he did not know how to spell his name. Because it was considered that he might abscond, he was placed in prison, where he had an epileptic fit two days later. His doctor was not contacted for his medical history, nor were patient files sought from hospitals where he had previously been treated. He died as a result of a further epileptic fit.45 • Samir Hashemi (27), 04/09/2012 An Iranian asylum seeker, Hashemi was found dead in his room in a reception centre in Charlottenstraße (Kirchheim unter Teck). He had committed suicide by taking poison. For months, Hashemi had been waiting and asking for his asylum interview, but never received an answer. He had attempted suicide twice before in the ten months that he had lived in Germany, and had been sent for psychiatric treatment but returned to the reception centre after five days.46 • Firad A. (20), 10/10/2012 An asylum seeker from Azerbaijan committed suicide in front of a church in Heimbuchenthal (Bavaria). He had been in Germany for a year, living in a refugee centre, the Hotel Hobelspan, and had received medical treatment.47 • Mihsen Jindi Sharu (33), 18/02/2013 An Iraqi Kurdish refugee, Sharu was found dead in his room in an asylum hostel in Regensburg, Bavaria. Sharu suffered from mental illness, and although he had a statutory guardian, lived an isolated life in the hostel. He died of an overdose of medication, and his body was not found for three days. The regional authorities responded to accusations of neglect by saying that since Sharu had been officially recognised as a refugee, he was no longer obliged to live in the hostel, so the authorities had no further responsibility for him.48 • Unidentified man (20), 02/03/2013 An Iraqi asylum seeker was fatally stabbed by his roommate in their asylum hostel in Wörth, Bavaria. His roommate was suffering from psychiatric problems but had been unable to obtain help or treatment.49 • Hamed Samii (28), 06/03/2013 An Iranian asylum seeker, Samii is believed to have committed suicide through taking an overdose of his medication in his asylum hostel in Hof, Bavaria. Samii, who had lived in Germany for twenty months, suffered from severe depression. His friends say that living conditions within the hostel and the arbitrariness of the asylum process had placed him under enormous psychological pressure. The group United4Iran Bavaria, together with the Green Party, say that the treatment of asylum seekers in Bavaria is particularly harsh, with compulsory residence and food parcels instead of cash support.50 • Cosmo Saizon (33), 25/04/2013 A Beninese asylum seeker, Saizon died in a hospital at Friedersdorf (Saxony-Anhalt). He was not properly medically investigated when, a few days earlier, he complained of severe pains, but instead, medical staff at the accommodation camp where he resided gave him antibiotics. An ambulance had to be called later when his condition got much worse and he became deaf. He underwent surgery at a Bitterfeld Hospital, but friends calling the hospital could not find out his condition or diagnosis, and only discovered that he had died five days later, at a protest about camp living conditions. The group ARN Sachsen-Anstalt claims that Saizon’s death was a direct result of policies that give asylum seekers access only to emergency medical treatment.51 • Unidentified man (25), 30/04/2013 An Iraqi Kurdish asylum seeker was hit by a train and died in Gerstungen, Thuringia, crossing the railway line which divides the refugee camp he was residing in from the town and shops.52 • Hashim Yasbek (34), 05/2013 A Lebanese asylum seeker, Yasbek was found IRR | European Research Progamme Briefing No. 10 14