In March 2014, Chyrum started a hunger strike in Geneva in front of the permanent mission for Djibouti, on behalf of 267 Eritrean refugees detained in Djibouti. She stated that the refugees were being treated as criminals and were not provided with adequate medical care. Chyrum argued that under the Geneva Conventions, the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, Djibouti was obliged to provide the Eritreans with protection and freedom from persecution.