Afghan hunger strikers admitted to hospital
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.