A 'serious' shortage of Muslim burial space may be found in both Newham and throughout London. The Newham Muslim Burial Association, which was established last year, is lobbying Newham Council to obtain a burial area for the borough's Muslim community, which is one of the largest in the UK. A number of Newham families are choosing to bury their loved ones at Gardens of Peace in Hainault, the country's largest dedicated Muslim cemetery, but room is swiftly running out. Muslims bury their loved ones as part of their religious obligations, rather than cremating the deceased, which is forbidden in Islam.Muhammad Uddin, who is part of the campaign group, said: "We've had discussions with Newham Council, who are willing to listen and do something, it's about raising awareness of the issue across wider communities. It's a sensitive topic to talk to anyone about, some people expect we can get this sorted out quite easily and it will be a quick fix, but it’s going to take years of hard work for anything to happen."

According to a report carried out on behalf of the council by environmental consultants, Enzygo, it's estimated that around 13,652 burial plots will be required in Newham up until 2038. The report stated though 3,262 burials could be allocated by re-using existing grave sites, the remaining 10,289 burials would need to be virgin plots and require specialist facilities, predominantly for Muslim and Jewish burials.

Mr Uddin and other campaigners told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) it can take between three and five years to find and open a new site because of obstacles like securing planning permission. Gardens of Peace, which opened in 2002, quite literally lives up to its name and is kept immaculate by staff.

The cemetery has two sites, which both have a capacity of 10,000 burials while a third is due to open in September 2024. But with its first site completely full and its second already at a 96per cent capacity which is likely to be full by the end of the year, there is a concern that it won't take long for its third site to be completely full within 10 years time.

Mohamed Omer, who co-founded of Gardens of Peace, said: "We were very confident at the time that [the first site] would last us a generation, we were thinking [it would last] between 50 to 75 years. Regrettably, within 15 years of operation, the first site became full, therefore we were forced to look for other pieces of land."

He added: "Overall, land is an issue at the moment and we have been raising this with the entire community of every faith and non-faith with the Ministry of Justice who are responsible for burials and cremations for almost 10 years. Laying someone to rest is very important, it must be a top priority. We believe there is a concerted area required - nationwide - to ensure that there is adequate burial space available for those who choose to bury and for those where burial is the only option."

Mr Omer said the issue really exacerbated during the pandemic, when Gardens of Peace was burying 20 people every day in January 2021. He said: "During the pandemic the problem was really prominent. From March 16, 2020 to March, 16 2022, sadly we had to bury 4,000 people in those two years."According to research from University College London and a report from the Race Equality Foundation and Doctors of the World, Black and Asian communities saw a 23per cent higher risk of excess deaths, along with other ethnic groups. Mr Uddin said the campaign is also about having open conversations surrounding the many health inequalities experienced by Newham's Muslim community, which were highlighted during the pandemic.

Julie Dunk, CEO of the The Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management (ICCM), said: "Many councils around the UK are facing a shortage of burial space.