Where will Guantanamo detainees go?
By Misbah Karim | Sun, 01/11/2009 - 22:03
The Green Party is asking the government to offer to take Guantanamo Bay detainees.
Australia and Britain has already been approached by the US to take prisoners from the military prison in Cuba.
Keith Locke, MP of Green Party, said that he believes that these detainees should be treated like refugees and should go through the resettlement centre in Manukau suburb and Mangere.
President-elect Barack said that he intends to close Guantanamo and that he will follow through on that.
But the actual problem is that where will these 250 inmates be sent. Of these 250 inmates, 50 have already been cleared for release but they feel too scared to return to their home countries.
However, Malcolm Turnbull, opposition leader of Australia, is against taking any of these released inmates and said that it is completely unacceptable to have these inmates in Australia from Guantanamo Bay.
The reaction of Turnbull has provoked Locke to speak up that New Zealand should put up its hand. Locke said that no place is better than New Zealand to help these people recover from the ill treatment they have suffered at Guantanamo Bay and settle into the warm and compassionate society of New Zealand.
But many are not thinking on the same lines as Locke which is evident from what top US official John Altenburg said. He said that Guantanamo inmates who were released have been involved in terrorist acts following their release or they have been recaptured on the battlefield.
- Misbah Karim's blog
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