Two of the men received medical treatment

The men, who are Kurds, fled from Iran three years ago but their appeals for refugee status have been dismissed.

Along with a third man, they sewed up their mouths and refused food 15 days ago to draw attention to their plight.

The Glasgow Campaign to Welcome Refugees has renewed its appeal to the UK Government to grant the men asylum.

Fariborz Gravindi, 30, and Mokhtar Haydary, 31, were taken to the Victoria Infirmary at noon on Thursday after losing consciousness. The other man, Faroq Haidari, 32, continued his protest.

But it later emerged the two men refused treatment after waking up in the hospital.

'Hours to live'

Earlier, Mark Brown, of the Glasgow Campaign to Welcome Refugees, said: "Their bodies just couldn't take any more.

"They may only have days to live, possibly even hours."

After starting their protest on Thursday, 19 February, the men said in a statement that they had been ordered to move out of their accommodation by the end of the month.

The men pictured just after starting their protest

The Home Office said their action was "regrettable" but that a person without dependents whose application for asylum had failed was not entitled to remain in the UK.

The men say they were beaten up while in jail in Iran where they were political activists.

Mr Brown accused the Home Secretary, David Blunkett, of "moral cowardice" and said he had forced the men to starve themselves into unconsciousness.

"They have made it clear that they would rather die here fighting against deportation than be killed by the Iranian security forces, which they believe will happen if they go back," he went on.

An attempt by the Scottish Socialist Party to raise an emergency resolution in the Scottish Parliament expressing concern at developments in the case failed.