If you want to declare your solidarity with the hunger strikes in Ukraine please send a mail/fax to the listed institutions:
Minister of Interior of Ukraine, Vitaly Zakharchenko:
mvsinfo@mvsinfo.gov.ua or 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 Soupreme Court of Ukraine on Human Rights:
omb@ombudsman.gov.ua
General Prosecutor, Vikror Pshonka:
Fax: +380 44 280 2851
Minister of Justice, Oleksandr Lavrinovich:
themis@minjust.gov.ua, Fax: +380 44 271 1783
Proposal:
Dear Sir or Madam,
We are writing to make known our very deep concern at learning that 58 Somalian refugees (11 of them women) have been on hunger strike since 6th of January 2012 in protest against their unjust detention in Lutsk detention centre.
We are profoundly moved by the comment of one of the hunger strikers who says “We are not murderers. Just to save our life we left Somalia.” We are deeply worried for the health and life of these despairing and defenceless refugees.
We note that the United Nations High Commission for Refugees has stated on 19th January that the detention of the Somalian hunger strikers:
“ ..serves no legitimate purpose, [it is] a violation of Art. 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights.”
Amnesty International has said in its statement of 19th January that:
“ 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.”
We note also that the Ukrainian Refugee Council has aid in its statement that the detention of Somalian asylum seekers can be viewed,
“ …as unlawful deprivation of freedom and a breach of Ukraine’s international obligations.”
We are aware – as you will be – of the tragic situation in Somalia. Yet, in Ukraine, Somalian women, minors and men are detained for months (and sometimes then immediately re-detained when released) for nothing other than trying to find safety.
As supporters of universal human rights, we criticize the unjust detention of all refugees. With this statement, we also criticize the European Union. In implementing a migration regime that forces Ukraine to become an increasingly efficient buffer-zone for EU borders, the EU is also responsible for the situation criticized by the hunger strikers.
We appeal to you as the responsible decision-makers to negotiate with the hunger strikers, give them their freedom and find a humane and just solution within the context of refugee protection law and the best human rights traditions.
Name and Signature
