Japan: Turkish Kurd on Hunger Strike in Refugee Center

[english at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl]

(19/9) Turkish Kurd on Hunger Strike in Refugee Center

TOKYO, Sept. 19 (Kyodo) - A Turkish Kurd is on a hunger strike at a
refugee center in Tokyo in protest at being detained by immigration
officials after he sought asylum, his lawyers said Friday.
                                       
The 29-year-old man, who has been detained in the Tokyo Regional
Immigration Bureau's refugee center in Kita Ward, went on hungeRstrike
Tuesday night because Japanese immigration officials took him into
custody without looking into his refugee application, they said.

The man applied for refugee status in September 1996, but had not been
interviewed by inspectors in charge of screening refugees before he
was detained July 30, they said.

It is rare for those who have applied for refugee status to be taken
into custody, the lawyers said. The Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau
withheld immediate comment on the case.

The Kurd, who came to Japan in 1995, has been arrested in Turkey three
times on charges of cooperating with Kurdish guerrilla members, and
left the country before trial, the lawyers said.

The man is taking only water with sugar, and seems to be in good
health, said Masashi Ichikawa, a lawyer who saw him Thursday.

The Japanese branch of Amnesty International, a human rights
organization, has requested the release of the man, saying Japanese
immigration authorities should not take into custody those who have
applied for asylum. If such people are taken into custody, they will
be at a disadvantage to prove themselves to be refugees, the group
said.

-- 
Press Agency Ozgurluk
The Struggle for justice, democracy and human rights in Turkey and Kurdistan
http://www.ozgurluk.org                          
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