Since four days a group of 41 refugees from Choucha camp are staying in front of the UNHCR office in Tunis without eating. The UNHCR considers the protesters as refugees, but refuses them to leave Tunisia via the Resettlement program.
The protesters are sleeping rough outdoors without any shelter, refuse to eat anything and only drink water until their demand – Resettlement to a third country with working protection systems for all of them – is met. One of the protesters even refused to drink water and had to go to hospital yesterday. Others were catching a flue, due to cold temperatures in the night and occasional rain.
Today a delegation of the protesters made a trip to the Tunisian Constitutional Assembly in Bardu area of Tunis, to take their protest also to the ears of Tunisian authorities, who are together with the UNHCR responsible for the “local integration” program, which the protesters refuse due to a lack of refugee-protection laws as well as massive racist-experiences in Tunisia.
More information about the protest of accepted refugees, struggling for Resettlement, you can find in their protest statement.
The UNHCR must react as soon as possible on this hungerstrike! The protesters had traumatic experiences in Tunisia and cannot stay – therefore they are determined to continue until their demand is met!
