Dozens of Tamil asylum-seekers have launched a hunger strike after eight months stranded on a secretive military base in the Indian Ocean, demanding that the government of the United Kingdom allow them to claim asylum in a safe third country.
“My husband contacted me today and informed me that seven people, including sick people, are now engaged in a hunger strike,” Meera*, the wife of one asylum seeker, told Al Jazeera on May 18. “They want an answer as to when they will be taken elsewhere.”
