Asylum seekers hospitalized

Asylum seekers hospitalized

INDONESIA: Nearly a dozen Afghan asylum seekers have been
hospitalized following a hunger strike in which some stitched
their mouths shut to protest the United Nations' refusal to grant
them refugee status, officials said on Saturday.

A total of 39 migrants launched the hunger strike on Tuesday,
after living in legal limbo for more than two years in a hostel
in Bogor on the southern outskirts of Jakarta.

"They were getting very weak and that is why we brought them
to the hospital," said Steve Cook, chief of mission for the
International Organization for Migration in Jakarta. "I think
they will be OK... but the hunger strike will not affect their
status." -- AP