MYFATHER sent me to Iran with my brother to escape the Taliban. My father and mother were killed. Then my brother went back to Afghanistan and he was killed. They deported me from Iran and I went to my uncle's house. He told me my life was in danger and that I had to leave.

My uncle told me to move. I came to Europe because everything in Europe is with law and safety and the UN is here.

I came here and I ask for asylum and told them my story. They say you're lying, they say we don't believe you because I have no death certificates for my parents. I tried to tell them that Afghanistan is not like Ireland, there are no death certificates in Afghanistan.

When you die, you are thrown away.

But they wouldn't believe me that my parents are dead.

I have a birth certificate to prove my age but there is no photograph on the certificate because the Taliban didn't allow photographs. I told them everything, I told them the truth . . . what can I do now? They say, when you are 18, you are a man and then you go. I am in Ireland one year. All Irish people are very nice and very kind to us.

If they don't help us, one by one we are going to die.

Javed, 17:

I came to Dublin from Cork on Monday morning when I heard about the hunger strike on the radio. I travelled here to take part in the protest, I am willing to die here.

I am from Kabul but I arrived in Ireland last November. The people in the Department of Justice told us that Afghanistan is safe. They sit here in Dublin and look up the internet and tell us that Afghanistan is safe. I wish they would go over there and look at it. They listen to your story and then they joke about you.

Warlords are after me back in Kabul.

They have already killed my father and uncle. They killed them while I was in school. In Afghanistan, killing a man is like killing an animal. Nothing happens to you if you kill a man, there is no investigation. My grandfather paid traffickers to take me away from Afghanistan.

Ibrahim, 17:

My family had political problems and they were all killed. We have had war for over 30 years in Afghanistan. I have no family left, they are all dead. They were killed by local warlords. The warlords are in control in Afghanistan.

My application for asylum was refused because they didn't believe me that my parents are dead. I have no death certificates because they are not issued in Afghanistan. There are no death certificates. Life is cheap in Afghanistan.

I'm not allowed to work over here.

They say that my application could take anything between six months and eight years, I have to live in a hostel until they make a decision.

If they make me go back to Afghanistan I will be killed. I would prefer to die here in Ireland.

Hamid Neeseem, 17:

I arrived in Ireland two years ago. The Refugee Appeals Tribunal turned my application down so now I have applied for leave to remain. I have been waiting seven months and I haven't heard anything. I don't think I will get it because very few people do. It is a waste of time.

I am in fifth year in school but I find it hard to concentrate in school because I do not know what my future holds. I want to stay in Ireland and continue my education and then work here.

My father was killed in Afghanistan.

I think my mother is still alive but I have not had contact with her since I arrived here. I don't know where she is.

There is nowhere left for me to go.

They do not accept refugees in Asian countries, refugees can only come to Europe because Europe is governed by laws.

Omid, 17:

My father was a commander in the Taliban. I haven't seen him since 2001 but he is fighting against the government. I escaped and applied for asylum in the UK. I was refused there and so I came to Ireland but last week I received a deportation letter.

I was taken to hospital on Wednesday.

I couldn't breathe and I had pains in my stomach. I was in hospital for four hours.

I am doing the Leaving Certificate Applied in Dundrum but I will miss my exams if I am in here.