GLASGOW, Scotland, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- Three Iranians who have refugee status in Scotland have sewn up their mouths and gone on a hunger strike to protest their pending return to Iran.
Farouk Haidari, Farnborz Gravandk and Mokhtar Haydary arrived in Scotland three years ago seeking asylum and asserting they had been beaten in Iranian jails. But their appeals for refugee status have been denied and the men were told they would be sent back to Iran, the BBC reported Sunday.
Supporters of the men said the three had not consumed food or water since Thursday, and would rather die than return to Iran.
The men released a statement saying they had been told they must move out of their current accommodation by month's end and that their entitlement benefits had been halted.
Haidari's lawyer, Grace McGill, said: "As a country that's meant to embrace human rights, you would imagine that there would be assistance available in this position. But regrettably the new legislation does not entitle them at all to any form of benefit and assistance."
