WorldTOKYO (Reuters) - Foreigners held in a Japanese immigration detention center have launched a hunger strike over the death of a detainee, drawing fresh attention to conditions under which they are held. An Indian man died in an apparent suicide on Friday at the East Japan Immigration Centre, northwest of Tokyo. Detainees began refusing food on Sunday, with the strike since spreading to an unspecified number of inmates, Daisuke Akinaga, a spokesman for the center, said. He cited the Indian’s death, long-term detention and inmates’ inability to win temporary release as reasons for the protest. The death was the 14th at a Japanese immigration detention center since 2006, a toll that has led to wide criticism over standards of medical care, the monitoring of detainees held in solitary and guards’ responses to medical emergencies.

Source: Sunday Times April 17, 2018 06:22 UTC