Iranian asylum-seekers hunger-strike outside Danish parliament building

international | rights, freedoms and repression | press release Sunday July 02, 2006 02:01 by Coilín ÓhAiseadha aat2004 at mail dot dk 086-060 3818

Suicide in refugee centre prompted strike

Six Iranian men have been on hunger strike in front of the Danish Parliament building since 19 June.

The men have demanded of the Danish Government and refugee authorities that no more Iranians be deported back to their homeland. They also want a review of the cases of asylum-seekers who have been refused refugee status.

Four Iranian women are also endorsing the protest. The women cannot go on hunger strike or otherwise protest in front of the parliament building, as they have to stay in the notorious Sandholm refugee camp to take care of their children, who are said to suffer greatly under deplorable conditions, in close confinement with adults.

Please read the press release, issued on behalf of the hunger strikers by Danish supporters, below.

PRESS RELEASE 30 June, 2006
Asylum-seekers in hunger strike - Danish asylum policy is violating human rights.

The 19th June an Iranian refugee Majid Samari, a father 37 years old, died in a Danish refugee camp. He preferred to take his own life after being refused asylum in Denmark. We are told that 38 people, through out the years, this way have died being under the protection of the Danish Government as refugees.

This is enough now. Therefore 6 Iranian men have for the last 12 days been on hunger strike. They sit in front of the Danish Parliament, and have declared to the Danish Government and refugee authorities, that they demand no more Iranians are deported back to their homeland. They also want the refugees being refused asylum to have their cases brought up again. Many of these have been in the Danish refugee camps for many years, and fear to return to their home countries.

4 Iranian women also take part in the protest. The women cannot be present in front of the Parliament, but have to stay in the refugee camp, in order to take care of their children, who suffers living in these camps, among parents and grown ups, who suffers from their traumatic backgrounds.

These people came to Denmark, with a hope. This hope is broken. All they want is a life in freedom, so they can work and serve the society, but many of them have been kept in refugee the camps for years, and they live under most critical conditions, which violate human rights.

The Government ignores their requests. Therefore we now have to ask you to send a message of support for these people, and ask the Danish Government to uphold the international conventions on refugees, and human rights.

They wrote among others to the Government and other authorities:
"We are on hunger strike, but we want to live, and this was the reason why we took the flight from Iran in the first place. Whether our hunger strike should end with our death depends on your willingness to listen to our requests to review our cases, after all the years we have waited in the Danish refugee camps. Some of us have children and the long waiting time have caused harm to them. We fear returning to Iran, otherwise we would not "chose" to live under the condition we and our children have to day. We would also not waste some of our and our children´s best years waiting in the Danish refugee camps, where you have no life at all."

Please help us and write to:

Minister of Integration Rikke Hvilshoej
Holbergsgade 6,
DK-1057 Copenhagen K
[email protected].

Danish Refugee Board
St. Kongensgade 1-3
DK-1264 Copenhagen K.
Fax: +45 33 91 94 00
Email: [email protected]

The Organisation for Iranian Refugees
Mahmoud Ghazvini. Tel: 51603121 - [email protected] - www.bimarz.net