Yet the Home Office rejected his claim for asylum, although according to his family, he had medical evidence of the torture inflicted by the Iranian police. One week after learning of his rejection, Ramin took his own life. Ramin's sense of hopelessness must also have been fuelled by the living conditions in the International Hotel. Residents have for several months been complaining of the conditions in the hostel, a run-down former hotel in the city centre currently housing around 400 asylum seekers. They complain of severe problems of hygiene, inadequate heating, poor food.
Residents also face hostility from some sections of the local population.
Most of the residents have been forced, like Ramin, to leave behind family and friends in London and live in Leicester, as a result of the government's misconceived dispersal policy. Ramin's death comes at a time when claims for asylum from Iranian refugees are getting less and less of a hearing from the UK authorities, despite widespread awareness of the oppressive nature of the Iranian regime. As asylum seekers at the International Hotel heard the news of Ramin's death, many decided to camp out in the hostel's lobby area in protest at the death of their friend. On 19 January an emergency meeting was held at the hostel to commemorate Ramin's death and to try to organise a campaign for justice. The management of the hostel first tried to prevent the meeting from taking place and then sought to prevent journalists and a cameraman from entering.