8 Sudanese face deportation from Sweden despite 19 day hungerstrike

8 Sudanese men who came off a hungerstrike on the 9th June, after 19 days without food, face deportation from Sweden to their home country despite their protests. After almost three weeks camped out in the centre of Gothenburg their public hungerstrike culminated at the city migration board offices (Migrationsverket) with the presentation of a petition of 7,000 signatures supporting their plea for asylum. The 8 are now continuing their campaign while awaiting the verdict on their individual cases which is due later in the summer.

“I am freezing, I have a pain in my stomach and feel sick. We will all visit a doctor tomorrow morning” said Dafalla Ohmar one of the hunger strikers said afterwards.

During their hungerstrike which began on the 21st May and in the period after it ended the men have received little political or institutional help. Politicians take a strict line of non interference in individual cases so as to allow an independent asylum process to function. The Migrationsverket say that Sudan is not on their list of priority countries for political asylum. When pressed about the reality of the situation in Darfur they respond that they have received no new instructions from their political masters about Sudan.

The 8 hungerstrikers had set up camp in Gustav Adolf’s Torg (square) in downtown Gothenburg, one of the many public squares close to the city centre. Petitions were collected from passers by on an ongoing basis. Support was provided by fellow countryman, by the No one is illegal network, by Rättvisepartiet Socialisterna! ( RS party - CWI), and a newly formed supporters group. The protest camp was left unremoved by police throughout its duration.

Things took a turn for the worse on the morning of June 6th Sweden's National Day. Possibly on their way to the Nazi parade in Stockholm a fleet of cars drove up onto the square and started circling the camp. The passengers got out and began hurling abuse at the protestors screaming "it's Sweden, we eat meat here" as they threw pieces of pork at the hungerstrikers. They also urinated on the tent and chased and assaulted a Swedish youth who signed the petition supporting the hungerstrikers. When police arrived the group dispersed. No one was arrested.

The incident lead to a hastily arranged solidarity protest at 1pm that day with 300 people turning up. This was impressive given that it had only been arranged by text after 4am that morning. After some speeches those assembled formed a giant ring around the asylum seekers to show their support. From that moment on, until the hungerstrikers struck camp to take their petitions to the migrationsverket at midday on Thursday June 9th, there was never less than 25 people camped out in support. Over the two days and nights different musicians playing reggae, djembe, tin whistle and even a full samba band came to help keep the spirits up.

The 7 expect a decision on their cases in the next 3 months. None are particularly hopeful of success given the attitude of the Migrationsverket to date. All have been involved in political activities at home so face extreme risk of torture or death if they are sent back. Some are even from Darfur. Their slogan throughout their public protest was "Vi vill inte dö!" - "We don't want to die" and anyone who has watched TV coverage of events in Sudan in last few months knows what they are talking about. I told some of them that in Ireland we know all about hungerstrikes. They were interested in this though I was reluctant to tell them the outcome in human cost of those unforgettable events.

The names of 7 of the 8 are:

Dafalla Ohmar
Mohgoub Abdalhakim
Salah Abdelrahman Ahmed
Ahmed Ali Mustafa
Zoelnoon Ibrahim
Magdi Ali Elbalola
Khalid Adam Hamid

One of the group has since had deportation papers seved and has gone into hiding.

If you want to support their cases send an email to the Swedish Migration Authority stating why you think the men should be allowed stay. Don't worry if it's in English. It will be understood.

migrationsverket@migrationsverket.se

Messages of support to the 7 Sudanese and the campaign can be sent to:

kristoferlundberg@yahoo.se

Camped out in Gustav Adolf's Square

Hastily orgnainsed Solidarity Demonstration

Permanent Protest

"We are people not paper"