PRESS RELEASE – MARCH 2, 2011

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

DAY 37 of the hunger strike

 

The 300 migrants, 50 of whom are staying at the 7^th floor of the Labor Centre, have been on a hunger strike for 37 days now. After their decision to abstain from sugar, more and more strikers are being taken to hospital everyday. The strikers are facing irreparable damage to vital organs, like the brain, for which sugars are essential. Right now 17 hunger strikers are being hospitalized. While all the strikers are physically exhausted, they are determined to continue with their struggle until their demands are fulfilled.

This morning, about 50 members of the Antiracist Initiative, in solidarity with the 300 hunger strikers, chained themselves to the entrance gate of the General Secretariat of Macedonia and Thrace, while a huge banner was hung from the 4^th floor of the building with the slogan: “The Papandreou government is committing murder”.

At the same time, another group of people, in solidarity with the 300 hunger strikers occupied the office of Evangelos Venizelos (Minister of National Defense) and Haris Kastanidis (Minister of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights) in Thessaloniki. During the two-hour occupations, texts of solidarity to the 300 hunger strikers were faxed from the ministers’ offices to the Ministries of the Interior, of Labor and Social Security, of Health and of Justice, as well as to newspapers, news agencies, radio and TV stations in Athens and Thessaloniki.

Yesterday evening, members of the Open Solidarity Initiative drove motorcycles and cars in a big demo that briefly halted, as an expression of solidarity, when passing by the two hospitals where some of the hunger strikers are being hospitalized.

Tomorrow, Thursday, March 3, the Open Solidarity Initiative is calling everyone to a solidarity march, meeting at 6pm at the Venizelou statue.