Britain was left scrambling to assert the vestiges of its colonial authority yesterday after Bermuda welcomed in four former Guantánamo detainees under a secret deal with the United States.
British officials knew nothing of the arrangement until the men, all ethnic Uighurs from western China, were already airborne en route from Guantánamo to the British island territory, better known as a haven for tourists and tax exiles than former terrorist suspects.
Alarm bells sounded in London when Ewart Brown, the Bermudian Premier, welcomed the men as “landed in Bermuda in the short term, provided with the opportunity to become naturalised citizens and thereafter afforded the right to travel and leave Bermuda, potentially settling elsewhere”.
The men are in the country as “guest workers”. Under the British Overseas Territory Act of 2002, citizens of Bermuda were restored with the full rights of British citizenship, including the right of abode in the United Kingdom. Bermuda has control over internal affairs, including immigration, but not over foreign affairs, defence or security matters, under which, London made clear, the case of the Uighurs falls.
In a statement shortly after their arrival in Bermuda, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office chided authorities there for failing to consult London on their decision to admit the men and insisted that security assessments must be carried out before their future was decided. “This was a decision of the Bermuda Government,” the FCO said.
“We have underlined to the Bermuda Government that it should have consulted the UK on whether this falls within their competence or is a foreign affairs or security issue for which the Bermuda Government do not have delegated responsibility.”
The Foreign Office noted that the Uighurs — Huzaifa Parhat, Abdul Semet, Abdul Nasser and Jalal Jalaladin — do not possess ... for more of this except go to: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6482158.ece