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Ukraine - Somalian hunger strikers - Urgent Action Required     (posted Tuesday 31st January 2012)

Somalian hunger strikers threatened, beaten and forced to eat in front of cameras at Lutsk Detention Centre in Ukraine.

From the hunger strikers we have just had the following report. "We have had some problems today. At about 1:00pm about 20 policemen came into the detention centre. When the police came we were shocked and confused, we are not criminals. They wore masks and had teargas, guns and pistols. They led us out of our rooms and then searched the rooms. They collected some personal things. Some of us were punched by hand, others kicked by boots, and others hit by sticks. They threatened us saying that we have to go to the dining room and eat. They forced some of the boys to eat. The boys went to the dining room, saying "these people will kill us". Ten of the boys went to the dining room and the police took some pictures of the boys eating. We think the Government want to use the pictures for propaganda. The Government also want to provoke us so we fight and they can see we are hooligans. The policemen are still here in Lutsk, and we don't know if they are temporary or permanent."

The hunger strikers urgently need your support to protect them from threats and violence inside the Lutsk Detention Centre.

Please can you immediately e mail or fax a protest letter demanding that:

the police are removed immediately from the Lutsk Detention Centre, and

that no further threats or violence are used against the hunger strikers or any detainees

Please e mail or fax your letter to one or more of the following officials:

Minister of Interior of Ukraine
zmi@mvsinfo.gov.ua, FAX: +380 44 254-96-34 or  +380 44 256-1633

Volyn Department of Minister of Interior
cgz@bigmir.net

Head of State Migration Service of Ukraine
hotline@dmsu.gov.ua FAX: +380 44 254-78-81

Head of Parliamentary Human Rights Committee, O.Zarubynskyj
Zarubinskyi.Oleh@rada.gov.ua FAX: +380 44 255-49-02

Commissioner of Supreme Court of Ukraine on Human Rights
omb@ombudsman.gov.ua

Thank you. The Committee to Support the Somalian Hunger Strikers in Lutsk Detention Centre.
For more information go to http://bordermonitoring-ukraine.eu/


Support the Somalian Hunger Strikers in a detention centre in Ukraine (Posted Friday 27th January 2012)

What is life like for asylum seekers in Ukraine?

The asylum system in Ukraine is in chaos, the old system has been dismantled and the new system has not been recognised by the judges and it has no staff. The police are profoundly corrupt. Asylum seekers are an easy target for harassment. Harassment includes arbitrary detention, extortion, robbery, and beatings.

Why are the Somalians on hunger strike?

They want to be released and given refugee status and they want an end to the harassment by the Ukrainian police. Because the asylum system does not function, asylum seekers are in limbo: they cannot even claim asylum and they do not get temporary residence permits which leaves them open to extortion or arrest. The hunger strikers want the Ukrainian Government to issue temporary residence permits.

Why are they detained?

Ukraine law allows the police to detain almost at will. Some asylum seekers have been detained again and again – often re-detained immediately after release. Sometimes the police wait outside detention centres and extort money from asylum seekers who have just been released.

What is the Ukrainian Government saying? The Government says they are detained to identify them, obtain passports and deport them. But deporting Somalians to Somalia has been declared illegal by the European Court of Human Rights. The Ukrainian Government states that it will not deport Somalians to Somalia - so why have they been detained?

How long have they been on hunger strike? Since the 6th January

How many of them are on hunger strike? 58. 11 of them are women and some of the 58 are minors (under 18). They are detained at the Lutsk detention centre in the Volyn region

What does the UNHCR say the hunger strikers? The UNHCR says that their detention ".... serves no legitimate purpose," and that it is "... a violation of Art. 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights."

And what does Amnesty International say?"The Ukrainian authorities must immediately release all those they have no practical prospect or principled justification for deporting and ensure that they have access to asylum procedures."

What can I do?

1. Please go to the border monitoring project website   Here . . . .

and use the standard letter to write to officials of the Ukrainian Government (you can find all their fax/e mail details on this page)

2. Ask your Member of the European Parliament (MEP) to write also to the Ukrainian Government of senior EU people like Katherine Ashton. Ukraine is negotiating with the EU right now and is very sensitive to criticism from MEPs

3. If you are member of a human rights, anti-racist or other similar organisation, please ask them to write to the Ukrainian Government expressing their concerns.
4.  Please pass this on to your friends.

Thank you

The Border Monitoring Project, Ukrainian Refugee Council and Pro Asyl.

If you want to see the Amnesty International, UNHCR, Ukrainian Refugee Council documents, or updates on the hunger strike, please see http://bordermonitoring-ukraine.eu/


Hunger strike in Ukrainian Immigration Detention Centre (Posted Monday 16th January 2012)

"Either they recognise us as refugees - or they say 'no' and then tell the whole world what they are doing here" said one of the hunger strikers, Sultan Haibe, speaking from the detention centre. He continues "We are not murderers. We left Somalia just to save our life." In Ukraine, 61 Somalians have been on hunger strike since 6th January in the Lutsk detention centre with another 15 reportedly on hunger strike in another detention centre at Chernigiv. 13 of the hunger strikers are women (7 of whom are under the age of 18). 17 of the men are also under 18.

The hunger strikers say that one 17 year old, Abdul Karim Siyad is very ill and in a separate room. He had not been examined by a doctor until recently, but Sultan Haibe said on Sunday 15th January that a doctor has now finally seen him.

The hunger strikers say they are detained in an asylum system which is profoundly unjust. They say that Somalians are always refused asylum in Ukraine, but Sultan Haibe points out that if they try to cross into the EU they are bounced back into Ukraine and detained. Only about 12 of the hunger strikers had attempted this.

The hunger strikers say that they are subject to police harassment and corruption and can be detained by the authorities for periods of 12 months if they don't have a temporary permit to stay legally in Ukraine. They say that an asylum seeker can be re-detained within a short period after release and then faces another 12 months in detention. Some of the hunger strikers have been in Ukraine for 5 or 6 years before they were detained. Some have been detained more then once.

Their demands to the Ukrainian Government are:

1) Somalian asylum seekers are granted asylum status in Ukraine.

2) They are released from detention.

3) Asylum seekers are to be provided with documents so they cannot be arrested.

4) There is an end to the police harassment of asylum seekers.

5) No asylum seeker is to face re-arrest after a period of detention.

Ukraine's asylum procedure is in chaos. The arbitrary detention of the hunger strikers is just one more way in which the rule of law is ignored in Ukraine.

Recent asylum laws created a new Government department to examine asylum applications, but failed to give it authority to act, while the old department was dismantled. As a result, asylum seekers cannot make asylum applications so they cannot get temporary residence permits and so become illegal.

Asylum seekers who were already in the system often cannot obtain an extension of their temporary permits and are therefore subject to arrest as they become illegal. No decisions on refugee status are being made and asylum appeals are postponed as the new Government department is not recognised by judges.

Even those who have been granted refugee status in the past are often not receiving their residence permits – re-issued each year - and so become illegal.

The Government has increased the penalty for being without temporary residence documents from 6 to 12 months detention. Asylum seekers in Ukraine cannot work and do not receive financial support while they await the decision on their application.

The hunger strikers ask everyone to publicise and raise support for their demands as widely and as quickly as possible. If you are in the EU, please raise this with your parliamentary representative or Member of the European Parliament as Ukraine is sensitive to EU pressure.

For further information contact the hunger strikers in Lutsk:

Name: Sultan Haibe
Tel No: +380 987 366 324

If you cannot get through to Sultan Haibe contact:
Tim Baster. Tel: +44 7906 187 873 tbaster@hotmail.co.uk
Isabelle Merminod. Tel: +44 77 33 200 606 isabelle@isabellemerminod.com

Last updated 31 January, 2012