A refugee mother has been found lifeless next to her malnourished baby boy in an apartment in Glasgow.
30-year-old Mercy Baguma, a Ugandan refugee mother, was discovered by officers after her friends, who hadn’t heard from her for some time, contacted the police.
The malnourished infant was found crying next to the body of his dead mother. He is now with his father, who is also an asylum seeker in another part of Glasgow.
According to reports, Mercy lost her job and she was living in extreme poverty when she claimed asylum.
The 30-year-old was relying on food from charitable organizations and friends.
A week before she was found dead in her Glasgow apartment, she contacted charity Positive Action for Housing to ask for help.
The Director of Positive Action in Housing, Robina Qureshi, said: “This is the third tragedy to affect the city’s refugee population in as many months.
“Mercy contacted our charity on August 11 and said she was not getting any financial support yet had made an application to MigrantHelp.
“Had she lived she would have been a high priority for a crisis payment from our Emergency Relief Fund like hundreds of others left functionally destitute by the asylum system.”
Qureshi continued: “The question remains, why are mothers and babies being left to go hungry in this city, why is it being left to charities and volunteers to pick up the pieces? Does society have anything to say about that other than call them a drain on society?
“The fact is there is no safety net if you’re a refugee or migrant.
“You are left destitute and without resources. And you’re left silenced by far right rhetoric for being forced to ask for help.”
“Would this mother be alive if she was not forced out of her job by this cruel system that stops you from working and paying your way because a piece of paper says your leave to remain has expired?” Qureshi asked.
“I’m sure Mercy’s son will want to ask this and other questions once he is old enough.”
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Replaced!