Jan 12, 2009

East Turkestan: Islamic Council Calls to Host Detainees


Active ImageCouncil appeals to Australian govt to accept Guantanamo detainees following Prime Minister Rudd’s refusal.

 

 

Below is an article published by ABC News:


The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils is urging the Federal Government to grant asylum to some former Guantanamo Bay inmates.

The Government has rejected a second US request to allow 17 Chinese citizens, members of the Islamic Uyghur minority, to come to Australia.

China has been lobbying against their resettlement in other countries, but the Government denies the rejection was linked to lobbying from Beijing.

President of the council Ikebal Patel says the group will most likely be mistreated if forced to return to China.

"Experience in the past has shown that people of this type would definitely be persecuted in China," he said.

"There has been instances of people who have ended up back in China that have either disappeared or they have not in any way been freed back into society."

Mr Patel says the US decision to release the Uyghurs should show the Australian Government they are not dangerous.

"If the United States Government, with a wealth of information they have and all the seven or eight-year-old investigation that they have done, have not found anything at all against them then that's a pretty good yard stick for us to accept that they would be pretty free to assimilate into societywithout any problems against them," he said.