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Ex-Gitmo Chinese detainees find jobs

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-07 13:14

HAMILTON, Bermuda: Four Chinese Muslims once confined to small prison cells as suspected terrorists at Guantanamo are now helping prepare the wide-open spaces of an ocean-side golf course for the PGA Grand Slam of Golf.

The Uygurs who moved to the British island territory in June have joined crews working toward the October tournament, said Wendall Brown, chairman of the board of trustees for Bermuda's public golf courses.

They were hired on a temporary basis after five Filipino workers quit ahead of schedule, Brown said on Tuesday.

Steve Johnson, who oversees landscaping and land cultivation for the golf courses, said the new hires are doing "very well" in their jobs.

"They have only just started, but they are doing what everyone else does, starting at the bottom and fitting in," he said on Tuesday.

Related readings:  Ex-Guantanamo inmates suffer from stres  US judge orders Guantanamo prisoner freed  Palau to take 17 Uygur Guantanamo inmates  Obama addresses efforts to close Guantanamo  Senate vote not last word on Guantanamo

The Uygurs from far western China were held in Guantanamo Bay for roughly seven years following their capture in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2001. The Pentagon determined they did not pose a threat, but refused to send them back to China, where they face sentence for their separatist beliefs, and other countries refused to accept them.

In June, Bermudian Premier Ewart Brown announced he had agreed to take the refugees, surprising many local officials and angering the British government, which said he should have consulted with it first.

The Uygurs' attorney, Richard Horseman, recently said that his clients were eager to find jobs and "become productive citizens."

Brown said he does not know if the Uygurs are being paid for their work or if they will be kept on staff after the tournament ends.

AP - Reuters