Beri Jamal, Zimema Mhone and Enrique Tessieri
It was a sunny Saturday afternoon of June when Migrant Tales met Majid, an Iraqi asylum seeker who attempted to take his life after he had lost all hope.
At first glance, Majid had the appearance of many young asylum seekers you’d meet in Finland. But it was his story that stood out from the rest of them.
According to Majid, the assessment by the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri), which claimed that countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia are “safe” to return asylum seekers, was what caused him to lose hope. The long waiting for a residence permit is another reason he cites as were the high negative decisions by Migri.
Reader discretion is advised.
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Majid: “The day after the [Oikeus elää – Right to live –???? ?????] demonstration [in Helsinki]… after I returned to the refugee centre… I felt that nothing will change and it made me really sad. I thought that if they send me back to Iraq… I will still die, so in every way, I was condemned to die by Migri.
[When I decided to take my life] I was awake until three o’clock in the morning. It was then that I decided I did not want to live any longer.
I took a knife and stabbed myself five times on the top of my head until I started bleeding profusely. I tied up towels and made a long enough noose and tied it to the ceiling. I then took a trash can that was in the room… stood on it… tied the noose around my neck… and tilted the bucket until ?my body was hanging from the ceiling.
Earlier, one of the guys I shared a room with, notified the refugee center’s security guards. He had a feeling that I going to commit suicide.
I was unconscious when the security guards found me…. and when I woke up, I found myself in a hospital. The situation is very complex and difficult to explain, and I do not know what my future holds.
I don’t know if the Finnish government will allow us [Iraqis] to live or die. And if I begin to lose hope again… I will repeat what I did. To go back to Iraq? I will never do it. I am dead either way.
