Somalis detained at Lutsk and Chernigiv end their hunger strike. The international campaign to obtain international protection and release continues!

Somali hunger strikers at two detention centres in Ukraine announced the end of their hunger strike through a statement from the Ukrainian Refugee Council (URC) on 17th February. The URC stated that both the Ukrainian Government and the judiciary are failing to apply international human rights law in relation to the hunger strikers. The URC called for the granting of either refugee status or complementary protection to the Somali hunger strikers and their immediate release.

The international campaign supporting the hunger strikers asks you to continue the support that you have been giving. The campaign carries on until the detainees are released and granted international protection.

The Hunger Striker Statement. Friday 17th February 2012:

We, the Somali hunger strikers in Lutsk and Chernigiv detention centres have decided to end our hunger strike today after nearly 6 weeks. We have decided to fill in the application forms for international protection as we understand that the Government has now agreed that no Somali who claims asylum will be treated as ‘manifestly unfounded’ and rejected without proper consideration of their application – as has been the case up to now. The Ukrainian Government and the Ukrainian State Migration Service know that Somalis should be granted refugee status under the Refugee Convention or complementary protection under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. We will also be lodging appeals against our detention in the Ukrainian courts. The Government of Ukraine and Ukrainian State Migration Service are well aware that our detention is illegal on the basis of the legal arguments laid out in statements from the Ukrainian Refugee Council, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. We expect  the Ukrainian courts to overturn the decisions to detain us and that the Government provide us with documentation to prevent further police harassment and extortion. We thank all those who have supported our hunger strike from Ukraine and across the world. We ask for your continued support for all asylum seekers in Ukraine who are struggling to end the violation of human rights in this country.

Bron :

From the Committee to Support the Somalian Hunger Strikers in Lutsk and Chernigiv Detention Centre.

Please keeping in touch with the campaign on http://bordermonitoring-ukraine.eu/
Please contact us on contact@bordermonitoring-ukraine.eu for further questions. 
Facebook sites for hunger strikers: Stop Human Rights Violations of Refugees in Ukraine! & End Detention.