Protest backs hunger strikers

Protest backs hunger strikers

The Iraqi Kurds have been on hunger strike for three days

Demonstrators are staging a protest in support of a group of asylum seekers who have been on hunger strike.

The 16 Iraqi Kurds staged their hunger strike, which ended on Wednesday after three days, in a hotel near the Eastern Docks in Dover, Kent.

They are angry about how long they have had to wait for a decision on whether they are eligible for any financial support.

Their protest has been backed by members of the Kent Committee to Defend Asylum Seekers.

Show solidarity

Volunteers are expected to demonstrate outside the hotel for about an hour, from 1800 BST on Wednesday, to show solidarity.

The Iraqi Kurds, who did not make an immediate claim for asylum when they arrived in the UK several months ago, would have been denied any state support while their cases were processed under new legislation.

But an Appeal Court ruling in March has meant their case must be examined more closely by the National Asylum Support Service.

The group believes this has taken an unacceptable length of time to resolve.