Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Students in the West Aceh capital of Meulaboh have ended a five-day hunger strike to demand housing for survivors of the 2004 tsunami after several of the strikers grew dangerously weak.

"We stopped the hunger strike because [the students] were growing very weak and some of them had fainted," Chaidir, chairman of Student Solidarity for the Defense of Education (Sombep), an association of student organizations from local universities, said on Thursday.

The hunger strike, which was called off late on Wednesday, involved 15 Meulaboh students who had gone without food since Saturday to demand the government build at least 1,500 more houses for survivors of the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami.

The students began their protest on Dec. 26, setting up a tent near a camp housing almost 400 people displaced by the tsunami, which killed up to 170,000 people in the province. Meulaboh was one of the hardest-hit areas.

Chaidir said two of the three remaining hunger strikers lost consciousness at about 7 p.m. on Wednesday, and the remaining student then decided to end the action.

"As of today, four of our friends are still receiving fluid intravenously. Not in the hospital but at their respective homes, because we don't have the money to take them to the hospital," Chaidir said.

Chaidir said that other students and tsunami survivors from the camp were planning to begin a new hunger strike today.

"So far 16 survivors, including two women, have said that they want to join the hunger strike to call on the government to provide them with houses," he said.

He said the government had yet to come forward with a promise of houses for the tsunami survivors.

Ramli Mansur, the head of West Aceh district, earlier told the Jakarta Globe that he supported the students and welcomed their involvement in fighting for the rights of the survivors.

In a show of support, Ramli said he would refuse to sign a document officially handing over to the district houses, buildings and infrastructure constructed by the Aceh-Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency in the wake of the tsunami, citing "many unresolved issues in West Aceh."