Two United Nations representatives are urging Belgian authorities to offer temporary residence permits to several hundred migrants who are on a hunger strike in BrusselsBRUSSELS -- Two United Nations representatives urged Belgian authorities Monday to offer temporary residence permits to several hundred migrants who are on a hunger strike in Brussels, some of whom with failing health. The migrants desperate to obtain legal residency papers began their hunger strike on May 23 at two universities and a church in the Belgian capital. “The information we have received is alarming, and several of the hunger strikers are between life and death," said De Schutter, the U.N.'s special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights. The government also “should consider issuing temporary residence permits allowing any person who introduces a request for stay regularization the right to exercise an economic activity," Gonzalez said. The hunger strike has ignited tensions in the coalition government led by Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.

Source: ABC News July 19, 2021 13:07 UTC