Since May 4, ten migrants from Southern and Northern Kurdistan have been on hunger strike in the detention camp Lesznowola near Warsaw against their prison-like accommodation. The migrants, six from Southern Kurdistan and four from Northern Kurdistan, have been in the detention camp for months. Most of them had crossed the border from Belarus to Poland. According to statements from the camp, the hunger strikers are very weak, and some of them have reportedly started refusing to drink as well. 

According to AFP, the migrants are protesting against poor nutrition, limited telephone and Internet access, difficulties in contacting lawyers, and detention-like housing.

Since May last year, thousands of migrants from the Middle East have tried to reach Poland, Lithuania and Latvia via Belarus. They were stopped at the border by brutal force, and at least 19 died due to winter conditions. Despite the opening of borders to people from Ukraine, Poland's and the EU's policy of sealing off all other migrants continues. 

A month ago, a group of migrants from Syria went on hunger strike at a similar detention center south of Warsaw. The men said they were being treated "like criminals." Back in November last year, a group of about 100 mostly South Kurdish migrants staged a hunger strike to protest conditions at the Polish reception center in Wędrzyn. The strike was the second of its kind at the center in Wędrzyn.