Asylum seeker dies after setting himself alight

A failed asylum seeker has died after setting himself alight in the building where his immigration hearing was to be held, police said yesterday.

Uddhav Bhandari, a Nepalese national who had been living in Edinburgh, doused himself in petrol and set himself alight.

The father-of-two fled from Nepal to Edinburgh six years ago but was facing a second immigration hearing which could have seen him sent back to the troubled Himalayan country.

The proceedings in Glasgow on Wednesday March 7, were to be heard on video link by three judges in London.

But at the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal Centre in Glasgow's Bothwell Street Mr Bhandari, 40, decided his own fate.

Shocked staff were reported to have made attempts to put out the flames with their clothes but he was taken to hospital with serious burns.

He had been terrified of being sent back to Nepal where it is said he had exposed corruption in the police force in a newspaper article.

A Strathclyde Police spokeswoman confirmed Mr Bhandari died in Glasgow's Royal Infirmary last night.

Robina Qureshi, director of Positive Action in Housing, a charity which works with ethnic minorities, said: "Uddhav Bhandari spent six years trying to seek refuge here and bring his wife and two kids over to this country.

"Forbidden to find paid work, he worked as a volunteer helping to recycle bicycles for disadvantaged families.

"Last night, he died alone in hospital a few days after setting fire to himself in the Immigration & Appeals tribunal Building in Glasgow.

"He was a victim of an asylum policy that persecutes and tortures the victims of persecution and torture.

"There are now over 1,600 asylum seeking families living in Glasgow for the last six years.

"Many have children who have been born and brought up here. They want to stay but are tortured daily with the threat of removal.

"The real question for Scotland is how come Scotland, which has the fastest declining population in western Europe, is prepared to stand by while our future lifeblood is sent back?"