By Dominic Casciani BBC News Online community affairs reporter

Haslar: Rated poorly in Home Office report

The Home Office has confirmed that four men at the Haslar Immigration Removal Centre, near Gosport, Hampshire, began to refuse meals on Monday.

But detainees inside the centre have told the BBC that 11 men are now refusing food in protest against conditions at the centre where one asylum seeker committed suicide in January.

They plan to continue the protest for five days.

We believe this centre is for criminals - we don't believe we should be held in jail Abubakar Mohammad, detained asylum seeker Listen to the interview

In April, prison inspectors heavily criticised the treatment of detainees at Haslar, which can hold 160 men, saying staff showed insufficient interest in the welfare of detainees.

Abubakar Mohammad, a 24-year-old detainee from Chad, told BBC News Online the men were protesting at being treated as criminals.

Speaking from inside the centre, Mr Mohammad said he fled his home after being tortured for his political views in 2000. He is waiting the outcome of his asylum appeal.

"I have been in Haslar for eight months," he said. "I may be here for another eight or 10 months, nobody knows.

"The first 11 who have gone on hunger strike are doing so because we are locked up for 16 hours.

"We believe this centre is for criminals. We don't believe we should be held in jail.

"They can hold us as long as they want. There is someone here who has been detained for 18 months. They have got this power and we believe they are abusing it. "

'No formal notification'

A spokesman for the Home Office said of the 122 detainees currently at Haslar, four had refused lunch on Monday.

REMOVALS CENTRE REPORT These are not people who have been charged or convicted of any criminal offence - they should be dealt with quite differently Chief prisons inspector Anne Owers Asylum centres branded unsafe

"There has been no formal indication as to why they are protesting or not particularly happy," he said. "Other than these four, the centre is operating normally."

But supporters of the men said the detainees wanted conditions to be improved, including food, lock-up rules and fire safety arrangements.

They say up to 25 men eventually took part in the similar but shorter hunger strike in April. The Home Office said only one man had refused food during that protest.

In April, chief inspector of prisons Anne Owers strongly criticised Haslar which is run by the Prison Service.

Detainees were not shown enough respect, especially because of strip searches, and that their sense of insecurity was "more marked" than other similar centres, she said.

"There was little information provided on arrival to allay their fears," said her report.

"All detainees were strip searched and the reason for this was not explained. Neither was it carried out professionally and the traumatic impact of this did not seem to be appreciated."

The inspection team also shared the detainees' concerns of fire risks. "We could not conclude that detainees were treated with respect," said the report.

"Staff appeared to lack understanding or concern for detainees and showed insufficient interest in their welfare."