In recent years there have been 33 suicides by asylum seekers, including eight in immigration detention.
The death of Manuel Bravo, who killed himself on September 15 just twelve hours after he and his 13 year old son entered Yarl's Wood Immigration Centre in Bedford, is the most recent of these tragic and shameful events.
Manuel came to the UK from Angola in 2001 with his wife and two sons, seeking
His case went through the usual labyrinthine process, culminating in a hearing to determine whether he could stay in Britain.
He waited for a response -while trying to keep his life together Leeds. He became an active member of the church. His sons settled into school. No response arrived. His church appealed
This behalf. Still no response.
Then this September, immigration officers arrived at 8 in the morning, broke down his door and took him and his son to Yarl's Wood with a suitcase each - no time to pack or say goodbye.
Manuel Bravo killed himself; it seems, to take advanCOME HERE already struggling trades union movement
We have a lot to learn from this event and others like it about the regime we now live under?
It is extremely important that the rest of us understand this - and understand the effect it will have on our own rights over the next months and years unless we make common cause with migrant workers and welcome the contribution they can make lo vul wi suruggies
This isn't fundamentally about celebrating other faiths or cultures, or embracing Muslims or any other faith group.
What it is about is recognising our common humanity and our common interests, as workers, as members of localities in the UK, as users of the same public services.
This means working with the part time and casual workers in the unions, and, in public sector union, Unison, working across the divide into privately run establishments and agencies.
It will mean supporting local individuals who are threatened with deportation, helping them overcome their isolation and fight back for their rights - strengthening our own as they do so.
It will also mean joining up the campaigns - in schools, in workplaces, anti racist groups, anti-capitalist groups.
In Oxford Unison Health Branch we have taken a small step this direction. Following the example of a Glasgow Overseas Nurses Network, supported by the Scottish Unison branches, we launched Overseas Workers Network on September 10.
People attended the launch from India and the Philippines, from the health sector and the They asked questions of an immigration lawyer - can I bring my father to live with me?
Will I have broken my work permit conditions if I go home for a month between jobs? They began to talk of their isolation.
Since, we have begun to receive calls from people who have come to find broken promises - where are the English lessons that were part of the deal? Poor pay, little prospect of promotion or further training.
And, always, in the background, the threat of the early morning raid, the detention centre, the deportation - like a sinister game of snakes and ladders.