Four Chinese Muslim detainees who had been held at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility have been resettled in Bermuda.
Premier Dr. Ewart Brown made the announcement this morning at a press conference and stressed that the men were innocent.
The four men —aged 25 to 35— are Chinese Muslims called Uighurs and arrived by air last night. They will be given the opportunity to get Bermudian status.
Dr. Brown said: “These men are landed in Bermuda in the short term provided with the opportunity to become naturalised citizens and therefore afforded the right to travel and leave Bermuda potentially settling elsewhere.
Today one of the men, Abdul Nasser, issued a statement through his lawyers, saying: “Growing up under communism we always dreamed of living in peace and working in free society like this one. Today you have let freedom ring.”
The Obama administration has been under pressure to resettle the detainees, as it tries to fulfill its promise to close the controversial prison for foreign terrorism suspects on the U.S. naval base in Cuba.
The U.S. government had determined that the Chinese Muslims at Guantanamo weren't enemy combatants and should be released. But China resisted their release and it had been unclear where they would go free.
My Lovely leader of our island didnt even tell us till they were here...and I think its Bullshit gonna be a whole lotta mess...
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