Jakarta, Indonesia, Aug 14, SPA -- Nearly a dozen Afghan asylum seekers have been hospitalized following a hunger strike in which some stitched their mouths shut to protest the UnitedNations' refusal to grant them refugee status, officialssaid Saturday. A total of 39 migrants launched the hunger strike Tuesday,after living in legal limbo for more than two years in ahostel in Bogor on the southern outskirts of the Indonesiancapital, Jakarta. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees hasrepeatedly rejected their appeals for asylum status,refusing to send them to a third country and leaving themno option except to return to Afghanistan. On Wednesday, 18 of the hunger strikers sewed their mouthsshut to press their demand. Eleven of those were taken to ahospital Friday.--SPA1313 Local Time 1013 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/191783