Bijna honderd vluchtelingen hongerstaken in Hongaarse grensgevangenis

Dozens of people seeking asylum in Hungary continued their hunger strike for a second day on Tuesday, demanding to be released from detention, the authorities said. The protest coincided with a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights in favor of two refugees from Bangladesh seeking asylum who were found to have been detained and deported illegally by Hungary in 2015. The 80 detainees on a hunger strike are part of a group of 102 people, mostly from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria, being held at a closed reception center in Bekescsaba, a city in southeastern Hungary. Images broadcast on Hungarian state television showed some of those inside the reception center holding a sheet saying “We are refugees, we are not terrorists” through a barred window. Hungary’s Office of Immigration and Asylum said in a statement that it had expanded medical services because of the hunger strike, with social workers and armed security guards monitoring the detainees for any signs of sickness. Ninety-four detainees began the strike on Monday.

AP in Hunger Strike by Migrants in Hungary Enters Second Day (NYT)