Ten male Nigerian asylum seekers are on their eighth day without food as part of a protest at being asked to sign on twice a day with immigration officials, prompting fears they are about to be deported.
They are part of a wider group of up to 70 who are to protesting at their treatment under the prioritised asylum applications system. The men have all received letters from the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) stating they are in the country illegally.
Many of them are fathers of Irish-born children. They are obliged to reside and sign on at the hostel in Gardiner Street as one the conditions of their asylum seeking process.
The protest was sparked last week when the men received a Garda letter saying they needed to sign in with the GNIB in the evening, instead of the morning as is normally the case for asylum seekers whose application has not been decided on.
According to the Department of Justice, asylum seekers are only required to sign on once a day and signing on in the evening is reserved for those whose applications have been rejected and have subsequently moved into the deportation process.
Asked why some of the Gardiner Street asylum seekers were required to sign twice a day, a Department spokesman said it was likely the two procedures had overlapped.
The situation has led to confusion as to the residency status of asylum seekers whose applications have been turned down but who are still seeking asylum based on paternity of an Irish-born child.
A Department of Justice spokesman said applications for residency on the basis of having an Irish-born child would be fully considered and no one would be deported before that process was complete.