AFGHANI HUNGER STRIKE IN IRELAND ENDS WITHOUT

UNCLAS DUBLIN 000582

SIPDIS

C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (CAPTION ADDED)

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL AF CVIS PHUM PREF PTER UNHCR PINS EI
SUBJECT: AFGHANI HUNGER STRIKE IN IRELAND ENDS WITHOUT
MAJOR INCIDENT

REF: DUBLIN 00562

Hunger Strike Over
--------------


1. (U) On May 20, a seven-day hunger/thirst strike instigated by
41 Afghani asylum seekers ended peacefully and without major
incident. Per reftel, this group of men sought refuge in
Dublin's historic St. Patrick's Cathedral in a bid to
strengthen their asylum cases. (None actually faced
immediate deportation). During the course of the protest,
eight of the demonstrators were admitted to a hospital and
later released. To the dismay of Labor Party, Green Party,
and Sinn Fein leaders, as well as members of the NGO
community and anti-war protesters, the Justice Minister
refused to negotiate with the hunger strikers. Justice
Department officials, with support from the Dublin
representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees
convinced the demonstrators that they had not yet exhausted
the appeals system and did not face immediate deportation.
After one of the leaders of the group took ill, and after
consultation with the heads of the cathedral, the group
finally surrendered to the police. All but the eight minors
in the group were charged under the Forcible Entry Act and
released on euro 250 bail.

Sinn Fein Withdrew Support for Demonstrators
--------------


2. (SBU) Per reftel para 4, we reported that Sinn Fein,
along with the Labor and Green party leaders supported the
protest and urged the Irish Justice Minister to take action
to address the issue. In a May 22 conversation between
emboffs and senior Justice Department officials, Justice
Minister McDowell noted that Sinn Fein MP Aengus O'Snodaigh
had attempted to enlist Phil Flynn, a former confidante of
Prime Minister Bertie Ahern and now a suspect in an IRA money
laundering case, as a negotiator for the Afghanis. He said
that Sinn Fein leaders withdrew support for the demonstrators
prior to the end of the protest when they realized that their
support had put them at odds with their constituency of poor
youths in inner-city Dublin. As a counter to the hunger
strikers and their NGO and anti-war supporters, many of these
youths were at the cathedral protesting perceived government
acquiescence to the demands of the asylum seekers. In
reference to the Afghani asylum-seekers, some of these youths
carried placards that said "Get them out. Let them die."
Minister McDowell referred to Sinn Fein's rapid withdrawal
from the cathedral scene as a "political bloody nose."

GOI Victory
--------------


3. (U) The successful outcome was a key victory for the
government and law enforcement. Towards the end of the
strike, the Church of Ireland had negotiated terms of
surrender with the demonstrators. The DOJ rejected these
terms and refused to negotiate the matter out of concern that
any win for the Afghanis would encourage similar actions by
other groups. According to Minister McDowell, the 0.16
percent success rate of Afghani asylum applications is over
twice that of other nationalities vying for asylum in
Ireland; there is no need for additional concessions. The
Church's anger over the outcome was evident in its statement
that it had been ordered to desist from involvement in
negotiations.

Taliban Ties
--------------


4. (SBU) Justice Department Principle Officer in Charge of
Repatriations Maura Hynes told emboff in a follow-up
conversation that between eight and ten of the men are
suspected of having links to the former Taliban regime. Due
to privacy issues, however, she was unable to provide more
details. The names of the 33 men charged under the Forcible
Entry Act were listed in press reports. These names will be
submitted through Visas Viper channels.




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