Saying they have been forgotten by the world and victimized by the Clinton administration, 21 Cuban refugees endured the 10th day of a hunger strike Tuesday at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where they have languished in legal limbo for as long as two years.

The Cubans -- all of whom U.S. officials have determined would face persecution if repatriated -- say the government has failed to deliver on a promise to resettle them in third countries and keeps them in an isolated, makeshift camp on the base.

Speaking by telephone from Guantanamo to a news conference at the offices of Agenda: Cuba, a Miami exile group, a spokesman for the strikers said they are prepared to carry out their fast ``until the final consequences'' if U.S. officials don't soon solve their dilemma.

``We are doing it because our human rights are being violated,'' said Placido Hernandez, a dissident journalist who left Cuba by sea after he was threatened with arrest by Cuban state security agents. ``We are all imbued with the spirit that this situation must be resolved.''

Like Hernandez, all 21 strikers were picked up at sea by the U.S. Coast Guard and taken to a refugee camp at Guantanamo after shipboard interviews indicated they might suffer political persecution if returned home. Once on Guantanamo, they passed a screening process that immigration officials describe as rigorous, earning them a special ``protected'' status roughly equivalent to political asylum.

But under Clinton administration policy, they cannot be brought to the United States -- a little-noticed consequence of the U.S.-Cuba migration accord that ended the Cuban rafter crisis of 1994. The administration admitted about 30,000 Cuban rafters who were being held at Guantanamo, but pledged not to allow in any others intercepted at sea.

Instead, State Department officials attempt to persuade other countries to accept those legitimate refugees at Guantanamo, an effort they say has been successful in the past, though they will not disclose numbers.

But the hunger strikers and their advocates say the process seems to be at a standstill, with no Cubans from Guantanamo having left there in months.

Russ Bergeron, a spokesman for the Immigration and Naturalization Service in Washington, said the last time Cubans were resettled from Guantanamo was in June, though he could provide no other details. News reports at the time said Argentina had agreed to admit about a dozen Cubans from the base.

``The reality is, there are not too many countries right now offering to take Cubans,'' said Wilfredo Allen, a Miami immigration lawyer on a committee formed to press for the Guantanamo refugees' release. ``So they're left in limbo. It's ridiculous. Unfortunately, the people on Guantanamo have had no one advocating for them. They've been forgotten.''

The 21 strikers comprise nearly half the 45 Cubans under protected status at Guantamano. Bergeron said 18 other Cuban rafters are there being interviewed.

A State Department official said he did not know the status of resettlement efforts, but added it can be a slow process. Aside from Argentina, the official said, Venezuela, Costa Rica and Canada have granted asylum to Guantanamo Cubans in the past, but he did not know whether they are still willing to do so.

``I don't know where this group stands,'' the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. ``Clearly, it's a humanitarian issue and we're concerned. But given the legal constraints, we have to find the willing cooperation of other countries. It is a difficult process.''

The Clinton administration has been reluctant to release information about the Guantanamo refugees for fear it could encourage others to try the same route. Those who fear persecution are instead encouraged to apply for visas as political refugees at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana.

Hernandez and two other strikers who spoke during Tuesday's news conference complained they are being held in a rudimentary camp surrounded by barbed wire, with security cameras trained on them. They said they are allowed only one phone call to relatives a week, which is monitored and recorded, and they receive no newspapers, magazines or visitors from outside Guantanamo.

Though there are several children in the camp, they said, none are receiving schooling.

``It seems incredible that you leave your homeland looking for freedom, and you demonstrate to the American government that you are persecuted politically, and then you find yourself in prison all over again,'' said hunger striker Raul Olivera.

Olivera said he has been at Guantanamo two years, the longest of any of the strikers. The rest have been held at least six months, he said.

When they ask U.S. officials about progress on their cases, they receive ``absolutely'' no information, Hernandez said.

Hernandez said some strikers are taking only water, while others are drinking juice or broth. He said three have been hospitalized. The strikers include a physician who, in addition to U.S. military medical personnel, is monitoring their health.

Military doctors have told the strikers they will be force-fed intravenously if anyone's health is endangered, Hernandez said.

Allen, the Miami lawyer, said the Guantanamo refugees have little legal recourse because U.S. courts have ruled they have limited jurisdiction over what goes on at the base.

But he contends the most sensible solution is to bring them to the United States, where most have family, friends or exile organizations willing to support them. U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno has authority to admit them on humanitarian parole, he said.

``She owns the door. All she has to do is turn the key,'' Allen said. ``They are such a small group of people. They should just bring them here.''

On Guantanamo, though, the refugees have been told flatly that ``there is no way we will be able to go to the United States,'' Hernandez said.