Family of man who died on Bibby Stockholm can’t afford to bring his body back to Albania, says sister

Family have launched a fundraising appeal to repatriate the body of Leonard Farruku

The sister of an asylum seeker who died aboard the Bibby Stockholm has said the family are living a “double tragedy” as they are unable to afford to bring his body back to his native Albania.

Leonard Farruku was found dead in a suspected suicide onboard the controversial barge, used to house migrants, in Dorset on 12 December last year.

Mr Farruku’s family have now set up a GoFundMe page to raise the £10,000 needed to repatriate the 27-year-old’s body, which remains in a Dorset morgue.

His sister Jola Dushku said: “It was a tragedy we lost a brother in such circumstances but we are now facing a double tragedy with not being able to have his body back home to have the funeral ceremony.

Leonard Farruku, 27, died onboard the Bibby Stockholm (PA)

“We don’t know how long it will take for the money to be raised.”

She added in a statement on the fundraising page: “Our brother Leonard Farruku’s life ended unimaginably for all of us while in the UK.

“As it has been reported widely in the UK media, Leonard died inside the Bibby Stockholm barge where the Home Office is accommodating people.

“An inquest has been opened into the circumstances of his death. Leonard’s body has been in the Dorset morgue since his death on December 12 2023.

“We kindly ask for help to raise funds to have Leonard’s body returned from the UK back home to Albania to rest in peace.

By Tuesday morning, the fundraiser had raised £570.

Home Secretary James Cleverly previously said that Mr Farruku’s sudden death would be “fully” investigated. A few hundred asylum seekers have been living on the three-storey barge since October after it was finally given the all clear, two months after it was evacuated following the discovery of Legionella bacteria in the water supply.

An inquest opened by Dorset coroner heard that a post-mortem examination found he had died from “compression of the neck” caused by “suspension by ligature”.

The hearing last month was told there were no suspicious circumstances and the case was adjourned for a full hearing to be held at a later date.

Ms Dushku, 33, who lives in Lombardy in Italy, previously told The Telegraph that her brother had told her “that the conditions in that boat were not bad but they were treated by the guards like animals.”

An impact assessment, which found the policy of housing asylum seekers on the Bibby Stockholm barge discriminated on the grounds of age and sex, was deleted from the Government’s website last month, two days after being published. A note on the website said the impact assessment was “published in error”.

The assessment found that the policy of housing up to 500 single men on the barge was “directly discriminating in relation to age (and) sex” because the barge was only suitable for men aged 18 to 65.

The assessment argued that the greater need to house male asylum seekers within that age range in accommodation other than hotels justified discriminating on the grounds of age and sex.

The fundraising appeal can be found here.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “This was a tragic incident and our thoughts are with everyone affected.

“The welfare of all those in our care is of the utmost importance and we take this responsibility very seriously.”