Former Gitmo Detainees to Live Out Their Days in Tropical Paradise / Twofer: Palau Disses China and Cozies Up to the U.S.

dhk:

“The Uighurs are a mostly Muslim minority living in China’s northwestern Xinjiang province. The latest US State Department human rights report says China has stepped up repression of the community.”

— Gitmo Uighurs hail freedom | PerthNow

• Uighurs that ride together, die together

The tropical Pacific island nation of Palau announced yesterday it will accept up to 17 Chinese Muslims who have languished in legal limbo at Guantanamo Bay despite a Pentagon determination that they are not “enemy combatants.”

China’s Foreign Ministry had no immediate reaction to the decision by Palau to grant Washington’s request to resettle the detainees from China’s Uighur minority who had been incarcerated at the US. Navy base in Cuba. Palau is one of a handful of countries that does not recognize China and maintains diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

Palauan President Johnson Toribiong said was accepting the detainees “as a humanitarian gesture” intended to help them restart their lives. His archipelago, with a population of about 20,000, will accept up to 17 of the detainees subject to periodic review, Toribiong said in a statement.

“This is but a small thing we can do to thank our best friend and ally for all it has done for Palau,” he said.