Six Chinese Muslims newly released from Guantanamo Bay were wide awake and excited yesterday as they traded life behind bars for rooms with an ocean view in the tiny Pacific nation of Palau, which agreed to a US request to resettle them.
The ethnic Uighurs, in US custody since 2001, were met at the airport in the middle of the night by Palauan President Johnson Toribiong and taken to their new home — a large house in the heart of Koror, where most of Palau’s 20,000 residents live and work.
“They appeared to be very happy,” Toribiong told reporters later. “They smiled, they thanked me, they called me brother. It’s amazing. I feel really good about it.”
The Pentagon determined last year that the Uighurs held at Guantanamo were not “enemy combatants,” but they have been in legal limbo ever since, as US President Barack Obama sought countries willing to take them as part of his plan to close the detention facility by January.
The Uighurs are from Xinjiang, a far western region of China that borders Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia. The Turkic-speaking Muslims said they have long been repressed by the Chinese government and fear they would be arrested, tortured or executed if sent back to China.
China has said insurgents are leading an Islamist separatist movement in Xinjiang and wants them returned.
US-based lawyers for three of the released men praised Palau for giving them their freedom.
“These men want nothing more than to live peaceful, productive lives in a free, democratic nation safe from oppression by the Chinese,” Eric Tirschwell said. “Thanks to Palau, which has graciously offered them a temporary home, they now have that chance.”
Toribiong said what he called a “temporary” resettlement could mean “a few months or a few years.”
Palau has also offered temporary sanctuary to six of the seven Uighurs still at Guantanamo. One Uighur did not receive an invitation over concerns about his mental health.
The Uighurs’ new home has undergone construction in recent weeks to accommodate the men. It is a five-minute walk from Koror’s only mosque, one of two in the country.
The island nation, best known for diving and tourism, has a Muslim population of about 500, mostly migrant workers from Bangladesh.
Despite their long flight and late arrival, the men were too excited to sleep, a lawyer for two of them told reporters outside their new home.
“They haven’t slept, they’re wired, in a little bit of shock,” George Clarke said. “They’re very happy that the Palauan people have allowed them to come here.”
He said the men were still choosing their bedrooms in the large house with ocean views, a dramatic change of scenery from the minimum-security detention area where they were last held behind razor wire.
Toribiong said the Uighurs would be provided medical care, housing and education, including English lessons and instruction in skills that will help them find a job.
The US Department of Justice said in a statement it would continue to consult with Palau regarding the former detainees.
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