Support network for Afghan refugees

Løpende mobilisering: Det blir punktmarkering utafor Arbeids- og inkluderingsdepartementet (ved regjeringskvartalet i Akersgata) kl. 18.00 samme dag som neste deportasjon blir iverksatt.

Stop the deportations! Afghanistan is not safe!

info@sultestreiken.net

On Friday the 16th of July, at about five o’clock in the night, the police went into action against hunger striking Afghans outside the cathedral in Oslo. The hunger strikings were put into buses and conveyed away, and then left on the street without blankets or shoes. Pointless and brutal, says Mari Fjeldstad, who works in The support network for Afghan refugees. Ola Melbye Pettersen, the second leader of SOS Rasisme, supports her statement. He describes the police action as devoided of direction. - We hope that the City of Oslo will come here and explain to us what the meaning with this action was. I consider this action as totally pointless, says Pettersen to Dagbladet.

When the police arrived Friday morning to remove the hunger striking Afghans, they also removed and destroyed the Afghan’s tents. The police also seized sleeping bags, blankets and other things the Afghans had used for shelter against both the sun and rain. By doing this, the police radically aggravated the medical situation for the hunger striking, and it looked bad before the Red Cross came with new tents and sanitary equipment a couple of days later. After ruining the tent camp, the police put the fatigued Afghans into hired buses and tossed them outside of Grønland police station, a kilometer away from the cathedral. - The police said they were taking them to casualty clinic (Legevakta), but left them on the street without shoes, says Zahir Athari, spokesman for the hunger striking Afghans. Brage Aronsen in the support network confirms Atharis story. - When we asked the police what they were going to to with the hunger strikings, we were told that they would be transported to the casualty clinic for acute treatment. When questioned why there were no ambulances or qualified medical personell, the police would not answer, says Aronsen.
After the police action, Rød Valgallianses city council group, with Erling Folkvord and Liv Gulbrandsen claimed that the police action as against Norwegian law. The laws says that the municipal is responsible for preventive healt work for all it’s inhabitants. - As an orderer of the police’s ruining of the tents, the city councillor is responsible for that the situation when it comes to prevention of diseases amongst the hunger striking is drastically aggravated, RV wrote in their letter to the city council manager Erling Lae. It was Lae who, combined with the dean, asked the police to take action against the hunger striking Afghans.

The film club Spis de rike (Eat the rich) has made a movie about the police action. It can be downloaded for free here.