Afghan hunger strikers admitted to hospital
Luh Putu Trisna Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara
Two more people joined on Saturday a hunger strike staged by illegal Afghan immigrants at a refugee camp in Mataram, making the total number of hunger strikers nine.
The two are Muhammad Nabi, 28, and 15-year-old Abdul Satar.
As of Saturday, the health of the nine refugees, especially Ali Reza and Ubaidillah, had worsened. The two began to suffer from a cough, fever and stomach pain.
Jafar, the spokesman for the illegal immigrants, said that the group would not stop the hunger strike, unless the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) acceded to their demands that they be given refugee status and transported to a third country.
Although they were in poor condition, the refugees refused to stop the action and they also refused to be admitted to the hospital. As a result, two of them, Ali Reza and M. Amin fell sick and had to be taken to a local hospital late on Saturday.
Ali collapsed in the refugee camp and was rushed to Mataram General Hospital by a staffer of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Meanwhile, M. Amin was also brought to the hospital an hour later as he was very weak.
Separately, IOM Bali and West Nusa Tenggara regional representative Yong Lai Kong showed reporters a response from the UNHCR to the demands of the immigrants.
The letter from UNHCR stated that the UN body was concerned about the fate of the immigrants and asked them to stop the hunger strike. However, the UNHCR said that it was unable to give any assurance that the immigrants would be given refugee status and transported to a third country.
The nine illegal immigrants have been staging a hunger strike since Wednesday. Initially, there were 200 Afghan refugees in Mataram. Most were interviewed by UNHCR and were given refugee status and transported to a receiving country.
But, another 67 immigrants were less fortunate, as they did not pass the interview. The nine immigrants are part of the 67 immigrants who have been living in Mataram for two-and-a-half years.