This article is from page 13 of the 2006-05-16 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 13 JPG
AN Afghan national, who lived in the Corofin Hostel until last September, has told The Clare People that he is prepered to die on hunger strike if he is not granted refugee status in Ireland.
Hashmat Habbib is part of the 41strong group of men who are entering the second day of their hunger strike in St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin protest at the Department of Justice’s refusal to allow them to remain in the country.
“My life is in real jeopardy if I return to Afghanistan. My enemies will kill me,” Mr Habbib told The Clare People through an interpreter yesterday.
“I am okay, but the situation here is getting harder as time goes by. I will stay on hunger strike until the Department of Justice lets me stay. I will keep going until I die if I have to. We are all committed to it.”
The hunger strikers, who are being led by Osman Hotak, claim that they are at risk of torture and death if they are forced to return to Afghanistan.
The group also includes blind diabetic Sultan Kabirchakari, whose health will be seriously affected by the lack of food and water.
“We want people to know that we are in worse circumstances than them. We have been mental prisoners for years,” said Mr Hotak yesterday.
“All of us will die unless we are allowed to stay. We are willing to end our lives.”
The stand-off began just after midday on Sunday when 33 Afghan asylum seekers, including Mr Habbib, entered the Cathedral and declared that they would refuse all food and water until the were granted refugee status.
The men were asked to leave by a member of the Gardaí on Sunday afternoon but have since been granted sanctuary by Cathedral officials. No attempt has been made to forcibly remove them.
These men were joined by eight others yesterday morning and it is believed that a number of other Afghani men are currently on their way to the Dublin Cathedral to join their countryman.
The men are aged between the ages of 16 and 45 and have all been living in different parts of the country for the last five years.
They believe that their claims for asylum have not been taken seriously by the Irish authorities and that they are just trying to highlight their situation.
Orla Ni Eili of the Ennis Refugee Council told The Clare People that it was an unsafe time to return these people to Afghanistan and that the Minister for Justice must look at each case on an individual basis.