Close X
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
ADVT 
International

Over 100 South Asian Immigrant Detainees On Hunger Strike At Three Detention Centres In US

Darpan News Desk IANS, 28 Nov, 2015 03:03 PM
    About 110 detainees, largely from South Asia, at three immigration detention centres in Alabama and California are on hunger strike demanding an end to their indefinite confinement and improved conditions.
     
    The hunger strikes started Wednesday at detention centres in Etowah County, Alabama, Theo Lacey facility in Orange County, California, and Otay detention facility in San Diego, California, according to Vice News.
     
    Most of the hunger strikers are Bangladeshi. They also include detainees from India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ethiopia and Togo.
     
    The detainees are calling for an end to all detention and deportation, according to Fahd Ahmed, executive director of Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM), a New York-based organization that advocates on behalf of South Asian immigrants.
     
    They are also demanding the abolition of the so-called "bed quota," which requires immigration authorities to hold an average of 34,000 people in detention on any given day, he said.
     
    All of the hunger strikers are said to be asylum seekers that have passed the "credible fear" stage of the asylum review process, although some have since had their claims denied, Vice News said.
     
    According to a 2010 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policy, asylum seekers with credible fear findings are supposed to be automatically considered for parole from detention. Some of the hunger strikers have been held for two years.
     
    Many of the hunger strikers are said to support the Bangladesh National Party (BNP), the country's second largest political group that according to a recent Department of Homeland Security (DHS) decision qualifies as an undesignated "Tier III" terrorist organization.
     
    The latest hunger strike was preceded by a similar action in October, when dozens of immigrant detainees in El Paso and Louisiana's La Salle facility refused meals for about 10 days.
     
    Former El Paso hunger striker Kamran Ahmed said on Thursday that ICE has mischaracterized his political views in relation to the BNP. "We don't know why they call us terrorists," he said.
     
    In addition to ending indefinite detention and the ICE bed quota, the latest hunger strikers are also calling for better conditions, including access to better health care, clean clothes and unspoiled food, and a less repressive disciplinary regime.
     
    According to a 2013 report by Detention Watch Network, the conditions at Etowah County Detention Centre, where about 48 people are on hunger strike, "are among the worst in country."
     
    "Many of us even attempted to commit suicide for fearing of the government retribution if deported," an asylum-seeker named Mahbubur who is being held at Etowah was quoted as saying in a press release about the hunger strike.

    MORE International ARTICLES

    Anti-Polio Drive Suspended In Pakistan For Security Reasons

    Anti-Polio Drive Suspended In Pakistan For Security Reasons
    An anti-polio drive was suspended on Thursday in Pakistan's Quetta city due to authorities' failure to provide adequate security to polio administration teams

    Anti-Polio Drive Suspended In Pakistan For Security Reasons

    Ramayana Miniatures Go On Show In Canberra

    Ramayana Miniatures Go On Show In Canberra
    An exhibition of 101 vintage miniature paintings that string together a grand narrative of the ancient Indian epic 'Ramayana' opened at the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) here, said a statement.

    Ramayana Miniatures Go On Show In Canberra

    U.S.-Canada Relations In Need Of Repair, Says Jeb Bush

    U.S.-Canada Relations In Need Of Repair, Says Jeb Bush
    PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — Presumed U.S. Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush issued a strong call for improved U.S.-Canada relations Wednesday during a speech in New Hampshire.

    U.S.-Canada Relations In Need Of Repair, Says Jeb Bush

    Saudi Girl's Love Affair With Indian Expat Shocks Her Family

    Saudi Girl's Love Affair With Indian Expat Shocks Her Family
    The 23-year-old woman told her family that she insists on marrying the Indian, who works as a delivery man at a shop in a mall in capital Riyadh.

    Saudi Girl's Love Affair With Indian Expat Shocks Her Family

    Prosecutor: US Border Agent Justified In Fatal Shooting Of Canadian At Sumas Border

    Prosecutor: US Border Agent Justified In Fatal Shooting Of Canadian At Sumas Border
    SUMAS, Wash. — A prosecutor in Washington state says a U.S. Border Patrol agent was justified in fatally shooting a 20-year-old British Columbia man who crossed the U.S.-Canada border illegally in March and sprayed the agent with bear spray.

    Prosecutor: US Border Agent Justified In Fatal Shooting Of Canadian At Sumas Border

    Islamic State Beheads Three Alleged Traitors

    Militants of the Islamic State terrorist group beheaded three men it accused of treason in Syria's eastern province of Deir Ezzor, a monitoring group said on Wednesday.

    Islamic State Beheads Three Alleged Traitors