A migrant rights group has accused US President Donald Trump's administration of hiding a hunger strike at the newly opened immigrant detention center in Everglades, Florida, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
According to the Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC), detainees at the facility, dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz", have been refusing food for nearly two weeks.
"We shouldn't assume that this is happening because we see ambulances, because family members are telling us, the detainees themselves have spoken out in various publications," FLIC representative Thomas Kennedy told DPA.
On Monday, the US Department of Homeland Security dismissed the reports as "fake news" in a post in "Ex", writing: "There is no hunger strike". CNN also quoted the agency as saying that detainees were receiving three meals a day, as well as access to water and other beverages. However, Kennedy said that several detainees had been hospitalized and called the government's denial a "strange and easily refuted lie." "The Ministry of Health claims that there is no hunger strike, while the detainees themselves say: we are on a hunger strike," he added. Last week, Kennedy released videos showing ambulances leaving the facility and said that about a dozen men participated in the protest. At least one Cuban migrant and his wife told NBC News and the Spanish newspaper "Pais" that they were refusing food in protest and were taken to the hospital. CNN has previously reported on the poor conditions of the place, citing relatives and Democratic Party politicians. They describe intense heat, broken toilets and a lack of clean water, food or legal aid - allegations that the US administration denies.