Many refugees from Kurdistan are held in the Medved'ov Detention Centre, where some of them have already spent months. They are not provided with information as to why they were detained or how long it will last.
Dozens of Kurdish refugees, who were arrested in the town of Medved’ov at the Slovakia-Hungary border, have gone on a hunger strike.
In a message through their lawyers, the Kurdish refugees stated that they began a hunger strike on October 19 in protest at their detention and ill-treatment.
The Kurdish refugees are held in the Medved'ov Detention Centre, where some of them have already spent months. They are not provided with information as to why they were detained or how long it will last.
According to reports, the police intervened in the ward of the refugees with dogs, forcing them to end the strike.
The detained refugees state that they are denied the right to communication and forced to wear prison uniforms and to pay for food given to them.
The refugees also denounce problems with hygiene and express concerns over the risk of infectious diseases. They do not have access to translators or legal and social services either.
In a statement about their conditions, the refugees said: “We are on hunger strike for our freedom. We are subjected to psychological violence and inhumane treatment. We are denied all our fundamental rights. There is no translator and our complaints are not taken into consideration. We are exposed to racism and humiliating treatment. We have no access to legal representatives or human rights organisations. For these reasons, we went on a hunger strike on 19 October 2023, which will continue until we are granted our freedom and basic human rights.”
The refugees continued: “We are supposed to be allowed to exercise outdoors for an hour a day, but this is also prevented. We are not allowed to communicate with our relatives and misinformation is provided about our situation on purpose. The camp director has not provided us with information on the legal justification or duration of our detention here. They are trying to discourage us from applying for asylum and FRONTEX officers force us to ‘voluntarily return’ to the countries where we have fled from.”
The refugees called on the director of Medved'ov Detention Centre, Kristian Kodai, to stop the inhumane conditions imposed on them, vowing to continue the hunger strike until they are granted their basic rights and see their demands answered.
