Asylum seekers and disabled and deaf campaigners came together in tribute to Kamil Ahmed.
They have unveiled a mural in memory of the disabled asylum seeker, who was murdered in his own bedroom in Bristol in 2016.
Their campaign mural, revealed today on Human Rights Day (Friday, December 10), aims to draw attention to the systemic failures that led to Kamil’s avoidable murder.
READ MORE: Family's tribute to 'adored father, brother and son’ as man arrested
In 2018 a Serious Case Review report by the Bristol Safeguarding Adults Board found a catalogue of failings in the way both staff and the systems put in place to protect him were supposed to work.
It found that Kamil's death was not only foreseeable but also preventable, and demanded a major overhaul of the way risks and assessments are carried out, Bristol Live reported at the time.
Academic and campaigner Rebecca Yeo, who facilitated the current mural, criticised the 2018 report in a joint statement at the time: “There could have been deeper investigation into potentially racist attitudes towards Kamil as an asylum-seeker by services that should have been providing support”.
The new mural in memory of Kamil is a call to action over the wider injustices not explored in the 2018 report. Rebecca explained: "The current asylum system is actively disabling, as is the wider welfare system.
“Now that the Nationality and Borders Bill is going through Parliament, it’s going to make the situation even more disabling."
The mural depicts a disabled, homeless asylum seeker whose situation is similar to Kamil’s.
Kamil was an asylum seeker with limited support, forced to live in the same supported mental health unit in Knowle with his eventual killer, Jeffrey Barry.
Despite Kamil contacting the police on numerous occasions, having been beaten up and threatened by Jeffrey, the police and other agencies failed to protect his safety.
Shortly after Kamil was stabbed to death in his own bedroom, it was discovered that he had been given an eviction notice which would have forced him into homelessness and stripped away the little support he had.
The man in the mural who contributed his ideas to the piece “wanted people to understand that homeless people are not bad people,” said Rebecca.
The ideas and images in the mural are being included in a report to the United Nations (UN) over the UK Government’s failure to meet the obligations of the UN convention on the rights of disabled people.
Creators of the mural came together outside Easton Community Centre this morning to make speeches about the issues they want it to highlight, and were joined by people from the local community and pupils from nearby secondary school City Academy.
A mural that Kamil helped to create before he was murdered was also on display this morning.
The speeches were followed by a film screening featuring the voices and experiences of the asylum seekers who helped create the mural.
Another feature of the mural is a colourful rainbow gradually fading until it loses all its colour.
Those involved in the collaborative art project wanted to represent how disabled people and asylum seekers have been forgotten throughout the pandemic.
A deaf activist, Lynn Stewart-Taylor, who is taking the Government to court for the third time in the New Year, said the Government has failed to consistently provide sign language interpreters throughout the pandemic.
The work of disability campaigner of 40 years, Mark Williams, who chained himself to trains and buses, was also highlighted as an example of how protest can make a difference.
Rebecca, who read out his speech, said how these protests “led to a change in the law and better public transport access for disabled people”.
A representative from Bristol Hospitality Network (BHM), a charity that works with asylum seekers facing destitution, said of their members: “They are people here seeking sanctuary.
“When their first claim and their appeal is refused they have no recourse to public funds and no right to work.
“People in that situation are coming as a last resort to BHM so we are really excited that we have been able to be a part of this mural to raise the voices of people who are unjustly made destitute in this system, unfairly and quite callously.
“That is not okay and we continue to raise our voices on behalf of our members to say that this is not okay.
“As we go forward the Government continues to make the situation worse and worse.
"The Nationality and Borders Bill that is currently on it’s way to the House of Lords will see the rights of asylum seekers, like those involved in the mural project, diminish even further."
The Home Office has previously defended the borders bill, telling the Guardian in October: "The new plan for immigration complies with all our international obligations, including under the European convention on human rights and the UN refugee convention.”
What do you think? Sign in and join the conversations in the comments below
