In a show of support for Algerian asylum seeker Mansri Hichem, who has
been on a hunger strike for the past 19 days, all of the other asylum
seekers currently living at the Fit hostel in Njarðvík (seen above)
intend to go on a hunger strike as well. Michem has been waiting over two years for his application for asylum to be taken up – other residents have waited even longer.
Jóhann Thoroddsen, a psychologist from the Red Cross, told Morgunblaðið that Michem is in a lot of pain and his condition is serious. Michem has already signed a letter asking that in the event he loses consciousness from starvation, that no attempts are made to revive him.
On a legal note, the same Dublin Accord that Icelandic authorities cite in order to send refugees out of the country and back to the last country to issue them a visa also requires that an asylum seeker’s application be taken up within six months of arriving.