Syrian Refugees on a Hunger Strike in Athens Are Starting to Collapse

On Monday, November 24, more than 200 Syrian refugees began staging a hunger strike in front of the Greek parliament. It evolved out of a six-day-long sit-in the refugees embarked on to demand the right to live and work in Greece or leave the country legally. Activists have told me that nine people have been hospitalized, six people have collapsed, and others are starting to show symptoms of hypothermia.

"We will stay. We will not eat. We will not drink. We will not do anything until the Greek government or the European Union responds," says Jalel, a Syrian who has been in Greece for three months. Since the protest began last week, temperatures have dropped and the winds blowing through Syntagma Square have gone from bracing to freezing. On the sixth day, the group decided to commence a hunger strike even as one woman was taken to the hospital for symptoms of hypothermia.