Charities are urging the government to establish a Windrush-style taskforce to help homeless Indian nationals in the UK, following the deaths of several men in east London. Sodhi Singh, 50, died in hospital earlier this month after being found unconscious in the car park of Redbridge council offices. He had spent more than a decade sleeping rough, unable to return to India or access work and services in Britain.
Singh was the 10th homeless person to die in the borough in the past year, six of whom were Indian men. His friend Kawal Singh, 61, was found dead on the steps of the same council offices in August. Local charity workers say the disproportionate number of Indian deaths highlights a bureaucratic limbo faced by those trafficked illegally into the UK, who now age or fall ill without papers or recourse to public funds.
Tahir Butt, a community engagement officer with Serving Humanity, described the situation as "a race to save lives." He had arranged a Home Office meeting for Kawal Singh, but it came too late. James Tullett, chief executive of the Ilford-based charity Ramfel, said government policies are exacerbating the plight of these men, with hostile environment rules preventing them from accessing support.
Redbridge council leader Jas Athwal called the crisis "made in Whitehall," citing a decade of austerity and the no-recourse-to-public-funds policy as tying the council's hands. The homelessness minister, Heather Wheeler, visited Redbridge days after Singh's death but was pressed to act on immigration-related barriers. The Indian high commission said it would contact the council to expedite cases, while a memorandum of understanding on identity verification remains unsigned.
