Irish officials to meet Afghan hunger strikers

[Al-khiyal]

Irish officials have agreed to meet with representatives of about 40 Afghan asylum seekers on a hunger strike in Dublin's Saint Patrick's Cathedral after being denied permission to remain in Ireland.

Church and local authorities Tuesday said Justice Ministry officials will meet protest representatives to discuss their asylum requests.

At least five protesters suffering from dehydration have been hospitalized since the hunger strike began Sunday.

Many in the group began taking water after the Irish officials agreed to meet with them.

Officials say the group is frustrated over the rejection of their applications to remain in Ireland. They say their lives will be in danger if they are forced to return to Afghanistan.

Justice ministry officials have said all the asylum applications were handled in a comprehensive and fair manner.

>>>Source<<<

[Al-khiyal]

Church of Ireland negotiators today pulled out of attempts to end the hunger strike by Afghan asylum seekers occupying a Dublin cathedral.

As the seven-day crisis deepened, a potential settlement which would have ended the protest was said to have been rejected by Irish authorities.

The Archbishop of Dublin, the Rev John Neill, revealed the protesters – who have threatened to kill themselves – were prepared to accept the initiative.

But Michael McDowell’s Department of Justice has now told clergymen to quit negotiations as Irish police take control, he said in a statement.

The Archbishop said: “Following a night of intense discussions during which senior church personnel attempted to broker a resolution between the Afghan asylum seekers and the authorities, we regret to say that these talks have reached an impasse again.

“We had arrived at a set of proposals which were acceptable to the asylum seekers and which we felt offered a fair and equitable way forward for all parties.

“Unfortunately this view was not shared by the Department of Justice.”

Forty one Afghans, including men and youths, have refused food since setting up camp in the cathedral last Sunday.

They are demanding political asylum and claim they will be tortured or killed if forced to return to their native country.

With gardaí on stand-by to enter the building, ten of the group threatened at one stage to jump from a 20-metre-high organ loft.

Mr McDowell, has insisted the men must go through the refugee system.

According to Archbishop Neill, however, his department also rejected a church offer for one of its officials to be brought in as an independent observer at further interviews.

“We fully accept the department’s position on due process, but a mechanism must be found to enable the return of the asylum seekers to this process,” the Archbishop added.

“We have now been instructed by the Department of Justice to withdraw from all negotiations as it has placed this matter solely in the control of An Garda Siochana, whose responsibility it is now to deal with this matter.

“Notwithstanding the failure of these talks we renew our appeal to the asylum seekers to respect this holy place, to desist from their protest and to leave quietly and with dignity.”

Hunger strike crisis talks fail

[Al-khiyal]

There's bitter disappointment tonight that a potential breakthrough in the Afghan stand-off has fallen through.

The government today rejected compromise proposals worked out between the Church of Ireland and hunger strikers occupying Saint Patrick's Cathedral.

The Archbishop of Dublin say asylum seekers had agreed to the deal which envisaged independent human rights observers attending interviews with the immigration service.

But the Department of Justice told the clergy to end its negotiations which could lead to copycat actions.

Rosanna Flynn from Residents Against Racism says it's depressing news for the protestors.

“They were hoping there would be something, some offer of compromise from the Irish government and absolutely nothing happened, she said this evening, but “the Irish government just restated their position.”

“And the last I heard, she added, “there was a total change of mood, everyone in there was very very low and they were all going to die.”

>>>Source<<<

[Al-khiyal]

Police moved in Saturday night to remove Afghan hunger-strikers from a Dublin cathedral, where protesters have spent a week demanding asylum and warning they would kill themselves if officers came near.

Police officers hauled several members of the 40-strong group to two waiting ambulances, a day after they surrounded St. Patrick's Cathedral and told the Afghans they must come out. It was not immediately clear how many protesters had been removed or whether any were seriously injured.

The Irish government emphasized they would not concede to the hunger-strikers' demands, saying it would set a dangerous precedent and be unfair to immigrants who spend years legally seeking refugee status.

Earlier Saturday, in a sign that confrontation was inevitable, the cathedral's Church of Ireland leaders announced that the government had rejected a church-brokered compromise that had been accepted by the Afghan asylum-seekers......

Irish police remove Afghan hunger-strikers