A group of neighbours are expected to stage a demonstration today to remember three asylum seekers who died after they fell from a high-rise block of flats.
The bodies of two men and a woman were found at the bottom of a 31-storey block in Petershill Drive, Springburn, Glasgow, on Sunday. Their deaths are not being treated as suspicious.
The three are believed to have been a mother, father and son originally from the former Soviet Union, Scotland-based charity Positive Action in Housing said.
The charity, which called for an inquiry into the deaths, said the three also had their applications to stay in the UK rejected.
Robina Qureshi, director of the charity, said the demonstration was expected to be held outside the UK Border Agency offices in Govan in Glasgow at around 11am today.
She said: “We know that they were asylum seekers. We know that their asylum application had been refused and were facing imminent destitution under the asylum rules. The son was in his 20s and the mother was in her 40s.
“We believe that there should be a public inquiry into these deaths, and particularly to do with the impact that the UK Border Agency has on the lives of asylum seekers who have lived here for years but live in the fear of removal.
“We want to know what role the UK Border Agency (UKBA) played. We ask that the UKBA issue an immediate statement about the suicides.”
Ms Qureshi continued: “Residents of Red Road have asked for help with a demonstration outside the UK Border Agency.
“Neighbours have said that they thought the Home Office had been banging on the door on Sunday morning when the family jumped.
“Every day, Positive Action in Housing’s staff are confronted with the reality of asylum seekers coming into the office crying or upset because they have just been told they must leave the country. Then their money and housing is stopped a week later.
“We run a hardship fund and give out small amounts of cash for food and arrange free shelter in the homes of our volunteers. There is a great deal of mental strain and it is normal currency for people to talk about ending their lives as a viable alternative to destitution or removal.”
Ms Qureshi said the charity wanted to know if UK Border Agency removal officers were knocking on the door of the family on Sunday and whether they had communicated with the three recently.
The three people who died have yet to be named by police.
A spokeswoman for Strathclyde Police said: “Police are continuing their investigation and efforts to trace relatives.”
It is believed the victims fell from the 15th floor of Block 63 at the Red Road flat complex, which were at one time the highest flats in Europe.
Many of the flats - which are earmarked for demolition - are occupied by asylum seekers and refugees.
In recent years some of the flats housed people from Kosovo, Africa, Asia, the former Soviet Union, Iran and Iraq.
The building is owned by Glasgow Housing Association, which lets the majority of flats in it to the YMCA.
Last night, Glasgow North East Labour MP Willie Bain said he had helped the family, who he understood had lived in Canada before coming to the UK.
He said: “Although the victims of this tragic incident have not been named, I believe I know who they are and had been assisting in their case. They had attended my surgeries and I had provided representations on their behalf.
“It is my understanding that no removal order had been served, but that if one had been, they would have been removed to Canada because that is the country where they were living lawfully before travelling to the UK.
“People locally are still in shock but it is important that the authorities provide clarity on what has happened.
“It is a very sad case.”
PA