Teen asylum seeker fleeing death threats took own life in hotel

A YOUNG man seeking asylum in the UK after death threats took his own life inside a Birmingham hotel, an inquest heard.

- STEPHANIE BALLOO News Reporter

Ismael Maolanzadeh, who fled his home country of Iran with his older brother, was just 19 when he died by suicide on December 10, 2023.

Ismael and his sibling, Mustafa, made the journey to England after friends began “disappearing” in their home country. Months after arriving at the hotel, Ismael was found dead by Mustafa and a friend inside their shared room.

During their time in the UK, the brothers had both been upset as their “lives were turned upside down” as they fled danger from the Iranian authorities, the inquest heard. Had they returned home, they “would have been killed”, it was claimed.

In the months waiting for the approval of their asylum claim, they could not legally work and had no money to go out from the hotel, which has housed asylum seekers for several years.

The day before his death, Ismael had been “upset and had disengaged” with his brother and friend after an argument with his girlfriend, but Mustafa felt it was “not to the extent he would end his life”, the inquest heard.