Asylum seeker with sewn mouth ‘very weak’

FRIENDS of an Iranian asylum seeker who has sewn his mouth shut were last night pleading with him to end his hunger strike.

Adnan Hassan Mohamedi has not eaten in nine days and has threatened to sew his nostrils closed to prevent any attempts to force feed him.

Rosanna Flynn of Residents Against Racism said the man, who is in his late 20s, is not expected to stay conscious for very long.

“He has refused to allow any doctors to see him, the hospital is aware of the situation but cannot do anything until he loses consciousness, which he will do shortly.

“We are going over in the morning to see if we can get to talk to him but he is in a very, very fragile state of mind,” Ms Flynn said last night.

The man began his protest on Friday at his lodgings in Hatch Hall off Leeson Street, Dublin 2, and he remained in his room throughout the weekend.

He was reacting to the rejection of his initial request for refugee status. He said he could not stand to wait for an appeal to be heard.

He has been in Ireland for 18 months.

His wife and eight-year-old daughter are in hiding in another country and cannot be contacted, according to Ms Flynn.

“His wife and daughter are in a very unsafe situation, they cannot be contacted so he really has no one,” she said.

Mr Mohamedi sewed his mouth shut on Friday morning with a needle and thread.

This is the second time he has made this type of protest in recent months. On the other occasion he was staying at another immigration hostel on St Margaret’s Road, Finglas.

Mr Mohamedi is Kurdish and claims he was tortured and persecuted before leaving Iran.

He is said to be very isolated and paranoid that members of the Iranian Government are spying on him in Ireland.

Ms Flynn’s colleague Henry Dent was among a small number of people who have been with Mr Mohamedi since he sewed his lips together on Friday.

“Henry went up to him as soon as we heard the news through another Iranian man. He is communicating with great difficulty. We have tried to tell him it is very unlikely he will be sent back to Iran because it has never happened in Ireland and have asked him to be patient.

“But it is very difficult when you are dealing with certain ethnic groups who have a very fatalistic approach to life who are prepared to die. It is very sad.

“He has made up his mind he is going to die and is refusing to see a doctor. He is very weak from the last time he tried this so it is not good for him,” said Ms Flynn.

The Irish Examiner tried to get in touch with the Department of Justice last night but no one was available for comment. It is the responsibility of this department to handle all aspects of the asylum seeking process.