‘Everyone was trying to kill himself’: Suicide attempts rising at asylum seeker site Wethersfield

There were between five and 10 suicide attempts and 10 incidents of self-harm in January 2024 alone at the site in Essex – the highest since the site opened in July 2023 – according to data exclusively given to ITV News by the Helen Bamber Foundation and Doctors of the World. But Home Secretary James Cleverly said people weren’t telling the truth about their mental state. Responding to ITV News’ findings, Mr Cleverly said: “The simple truth is, often when people come to this country illegally they do lie to further their own causes.”