Thousands raised for five year old Afghan refugee who died in Sheffield

Mohammed Munib Majeedi fell from the window of the Sheffield Metropolitan Hotel in Blonk Street at around 2.30pm on Wednesday.

Richard Davenport has set up a Just Giving page to raise money for the boy’s family and more than £4,300 has been donated so far.

The page states the boy and his family had been in the UK for “a matter of days” and his father has spent “many years” providing humanitarian aid and supporting displaced persons on behalf of the British Government and non-profit organisations in Afghanistan.

Thousands are fleeing from Afghanistan as the Taliban regained control of the country after US-led forces decided to end a 20-year military campaign and withdraw.

Migration Yorkshire says 24 families, consisting of 174 people, have settled in Yorkshire and the Humber so far through the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy, which was launched in April to help Afghans who have assisted the British military.

Five Labour MPs who represent Sheffield have called for a “full, urgent, independent inquiry” into the circumstances that led to the boy’s death and they claim that asylum seekers were previously moved out of the hotel.

Labour shadow frontbencher Louise Haigh, who is also MP for Sheffield Heeley, said: “The Home Office has a duty of care when placing asylum seekers of any description, but especially under their resettlement scheme, here in the UK, and clearly that duty of care has been at the very least undermined, if not breached.”

She added: “We know that the Home Office placed some refugees there last August, in 2020, and then moved them following concerns about the suitability of that accommodation.

“So why vulnerable families from Afghanistan, involving children, were placed in this accommodation again this year is a very serious question that they have to urgently answer.”

Ms Haigh said the fact that all remaining families had been removed from the hotel “demonstrates that they know that is unsafe and unsuitable”.

Sheffield City Council confirmed that the Home Office had ceased use of the hotel in November.

In a statement, the Home Office said: “We are extremely saddened by the tragic death of a child at a hotel in Sheffield. The police are providing support to the family while the investigation continues and we are providing accommodation and support.

“We are absolutely committed to ensuring that Afghan refugees are appropriately accommodated and supported and we are working hard with local authorities to deliver this.”

South Yorkshire Police arrested a 42-year-old woman in Sheffield on Friday on suspicion of malicious communications and racially aggravated public order offences.

The force said the arrest relates to comments made online following the death of a five-year-old boy in the city.