Asylum seeker ends hunger strike

An Indian asylum seeker has ended his nine day hunger strike and has been discharged from CUH.

Nadim Hussain left CUH at 10.30am yesterday, Wednesday, morning after being admitted to hospital on 22 October suffering from severe weakness and what doctors feared was the beginning of organ failure.

He said he has been offered a single room in Tullamore in County Offaly but asked that he could remain in Cork as he says, “Cork is my family”.

He has since been placed back in a shared room in the Direct Provision Centre on Kinsale Road.

He began his hunger strike on 14 October in an effort to be allowed to remain in the country after the International Protection Appeal Tribunal (IPAT) rejected his appeal to be recognised as a refugee. Mr Hussain, who is of Muslim background, has been in Direct Provision in Cork for three years. Speaking to the Cork Independent yesterday, he said he is now hopeful that he can remain in Cork where he works as a security guard.

Mr Hussain lost both of his parents to anti-Muslim violence in his home country in 2018 and says he fears for his life if he were to be deported back to India.

He says he has provided extensive documentation and proof of his background and the nature of his parents’ death to Irish authorities, however, he has been unable to provide written documentation from police in his country.

His hunger strike followed a protest outside Leinster House where he vowed to commence his campaign.

In an email seen by the newspaper, Mr Hussain was told by the Taoiseach’s Office on 22 September that the Taoiseach is pursuing the issue on his behalf with the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) at the Department of Justice.