KOROR — After eight, long, nightmarish years in notorious Guantanamo, six Chinese Muslim Uighurs are celebrating their long-lost freedom after having been moved to the Pacific island nation of Palau. "They are happy to enjoy the beautiful environment of Palau," Mampimin Ala, an Australian flown to Palau to act as a translator for the freed Uighurs, told Agence France Presse (AFP) on Monday, November 2.
The six men, who landed in Palau on Sunday, started their day early with morning prayers at their residence in the capital Koro.
They then embarked on a shopping tour in the city market and walked around the shops, shaking hands with the locals.
Gitanjali Gutierrez, a lawyer travelling with the men, noted it was important for them to meet as many locals as possible in the next few days to rebuild their shattered lives.
They have also pencilled in a day's swimming at the spectacular Rock Islands after a treat they missed most while detained at notorious Guantanamo.
Gitmo in Focus (Special page)
"They have not touched the water for eight years," George Clark, another lawyer travelling with the Uighurs, told AFP.
The men were among 22 Uighurs who fled Chinese religious persecution and were living at a self-contained camp in Afghanistan at the time of the 2001 US-led invasion.
They were held at Guantanamo for nearly eight years despite being cleared of all charges.
Amid US fears they could face unjust trials and torture if returned to China, five were released to Albania in 2006 and four were resettled in Bermuda earlier this year.
The others remain in a legal limbo, seeking permission to live in the US. The Supreme Court has recently agreed to hear their case early next year.
Heroes
Since they landed in the Pacific nation, the freed Uighurs have been treated as heroes by the locals and the government.
"They are happy that the Palauan people have accepted them and relieved that they have finally been released from jail," notes Clark, the American lawyer.
President Johnson Toribiong has welcomed the Uighurs and decided to accompany them in their swimming time Monday.
He vowed to help the men get jobs and live in dignity, adding they would be given conversational and written English and instructed in skills that will enable them to find a job and earn a living.
Palau, with a population of about 21,000, lies about 500 miles east of the Philippines and was administered by the US until independence in 1994.
Eric Tirschwell, of Kramer Levin Naftalis Frankel, which represented the former detainees, said they only want to live in peace and enjoy their freedom.
"(They) want nothing more than to live peaceful, productive lives in a free, democratic nation safe from oppression by the Chinese."
Uighur Muslims, a Turkic-speaking minority of nearly eight million, continue to be the subject of massive clampdowns by Chinese authorities particularly in the Muslim-majority Xinjiang region.
They accuse the government of settling millions of ethnic Han in their territory with the ultimate goal of obliterating its identity and culture.
They also cite a recent government plan that has brought the teaching of Mandarin Chinese in Xinjiang schools, replacing their local dialect.
Source: IslamOnline
The six men, who landed in Palau on Sunday, started their day early with morning prayers at their residence in the capital Koro.
They then embarked on a shopping tour in the city market and walked around the shops, shaking hands with the locals.
Gitanjali Gutierrez, a lawyer travelling with the men, noted it was important for them to meet as many locals as possible in the next few days to rebuild their shattered lives.
They have also pencilled in a day's swimming at the spectacular Rock Islands after a treat they missed most while detained at notorious Guantanamo.
Gitmo in Focus (Special page)
"They have not touched the water for eight years," George Clark, another lawyer travelling with the Uighurs, told AFP.
The men were among 22 Uighurs who fled Chinese religious persecution and were living at a self-contained camp in Afghanistan at the time of the 2001 US-led invasion.
They were held at Guantanamo for nearly eight years despite being cleared of all charges.
Amid US fears they could face unjust trials and torture if returned to China, five were released to Albania in 2006 and four were resettled in Bermuda earlier this year.
The others remain in a legal limbo, seeking permission to live in the US. The Supreme Court has recently agreed to hear their case early next year.
Heroes
Since they landed in the Pacific nation, the freed Uighurs have been treated as heroes by the locals and the government.
"They are happy that the Palauan people have accepted them and relieved that they have finally been released from jail," notes Clark, the American lawyer.
President Johnson Toribiong has welcomed the Uighurs and decided to accompany them in their swimming time Monday.
He vowed to help the men get jobs and live in dignity, adding they would be given conversational and written English and instructed in skills that will enable them to find a job and earn a living.
Palau, with a population of about 21,000, lies about 500 miles east of the Philippines and was administered by the US until independence in 1994.
Eric Tirschwell, of Kramer Levin Naftalis Frankel, which represented the former detainees, said they only want to live in peace and enjoy their freedom.
"(They) want nothing more than to live peaceful, productive lives in a free, democratic nation safe from oppression by the Chinese."
Uighur Muslims, a Turkic-speaking minority of nearly eight million, continue to be the subject of massive clampdowns by Chinese authorities particularly in the Muslim-majority Xinjiang region.
They accuse the government of settling millions of ethnic Han in their territory with the ultimate goal of obliterating its identity and culture.
They also cite a recent government plan that has brought the teaching of Mandarin Chinese in Xinjiang schools, replacing their local dialect.
Source: IslamOnline
| Home | Daily News | We Are On... |
