Amnesty International calling on Ukraine to release Somali asylum-seekers

International human rights organization Amnesty International has called on the Ukrainian authorities to release Somali nationals who were detained on the state border in late December 2011 and are currently on hunger strike in the Zhuravychi Migrant Accommodation Centre, Volyn region.

“Amnesty International is calling on the Ukrainian authorities to release the Somali nationals who are currently on hunger strike in protest at being detained for up to a year for the purpose of deportation,” the statement posted on the organization’s Web site reads.

According to the organization, approximately 60 Somali nationals, including possibly as many as 20 children, have joined in the hunger strike in the Migrant Accommodation Centre.

In a letter to the interior minister of Ukraine, Amnesty International called on the Ukrainian authorities “to live up to their obligations by ensuring that Somalis have access to a fair asylum procedure and to complementary protection if they cannot be declared refugees.”