Japan: Turkish Kurd on Hunger Strike in Refugee Center id MAA19403; Wed, 24 Sep 1997 12:51:20 -0400 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit source: Press Agency Ozgurluk (19/9) Turkish Kurd on Hunger Strike in Refugee Center TOKYO, Sept. 19 (Kyodo) - A Turkish Kurd is on a hunger strike at a refugee center in Tokyo in protest at being detained by immigration officials after he sought asylum, his lawyers said Friday. The 29-year-old man, who has been detained in the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau's refugee center in Kita Ward, went on hungeRstrike Tuesday night because Japanese immigration officials took him into custody without looking into his refugee application, they said. The man applied for refugee status in September 1996, but had not been interviewed by inspectors in charge of screening refugees before he was detained July 30, they said. It is rare for those who have applied for refugee status to be taken into custody, the lawyers said. The Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau withheld immediate comment on the case. The Kurd, who came to Japan in 1995, has been arrested in Turkey three times on charges of cooperating with Kurdish guerrilla members, and left the country before trial, the lawyers said. The man is taking only water with sugar, and seems to be in good health, said Masashi Ichikawa, a lawyer who saw him Thursday. The Japanese branch of Amnesty International, a human rights organization, has requested the release of the man, saying Japanese immigration authorities should not take into custody those who have applied for asylum. If such people are taken into custody, they will be at a disadvantage to prove themselves to be refugees, the group said. Press Agency Ozgurluk The Struggle for justice, democracy and human rights in Turkey and Kurdistan http://www.ozgurluk.org mailto:ozgurluk@xs4all.nl mailinglists:petidomo@ozgurluk.xs4all.nl List info: english-request@ozgurluk.xs4all.nl ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytas-09.24.97-12:51:27-1177