On Saturday, 17 September, two days after 35-year-old Manuel Bravo, an Angolan asylum seeker, was found hanged in a stairwell at Yarl’s Wood removal centre in Bedford, campaigners held a vigil at the centre in his memory.
On Thursday 15 September, Manuel Bravo who had been detained at the centre overnight with his 13-year-old son, Antonio, took his own life on the day he was due to be deported to Angola. (see IRR News story: Two asylum seekers took their own lives within 24 hours) At the vigil, campaigners read the Christina Rosetti poem, ‘Remember me when I am gone away’, the names of the other asylum seekers who had taken their own lives while in immigration detention and laid a wreath at the entrance to the centre as a tribute to Manuel. Supporters also called on Bedford Social Services to organise 13-year-old Antonio’s return to a foster family in Leeds as soon as possible.