Asylum seekers start hunger strike

Approximately 40 asylum seekers held at the detention centre in
Dungavel, Lanarkshire, have started a hunger strike in protest at
the length of time taken to process their applications for
asylum.

Dungavel became controversial when it was converted from a
prison into a detention centre for 150 asylum seekers in September
last year.

A young man attempted suicide last month by stabbing himself in
the stomach, and two weeks ago the centre was the focus of
demonstrations by a range of organisations campaigning against the
“jailing” of asylum seekers who had not committed a crime.

The hunger strikers are based in the block which houses single
men. They say they are campaigning against the conditions in
Dungavel, including the lack of food, as well as the length their
applications for asylum are taking.

A home office spokesperson acknowledged that a number of people
in Dungavel had started a hunger strike protest.