US request to take freed Guantanamo detainees rejected by Australia

On Saturday, Australia formally rejected a US request to help resettle former inmates of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility amid warnings against taking in freed “war on terror” detainees.

On Saturday, Australia formally rejected a US request to help resettle former inmates of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility amid warnings against taking in freed “war on terror” detainees.

Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard told reporters that the request received in December 2008 has now been denied, citing national security concerns for the same.

She said that the Australian government had advised the Bush administration that it would not assist in resettling some 60 “war on terror” detainees.

Gillard said that assessing the requests in a case by case basis, they fell short of Australia’s stringent national security and immigration criteria and have been rejected.

This is the second time that Australia has denied such a request from Washington, after rebuffing an initial approach in early 2008.

US president-elect Barack Obama has vowed once in office to close the Camp Delta facility, which houses 250 inmates at present without charge or trial.

Though Australia is open to future requests from the Obama administration, Gillard warned that same rigorous scrutiny and very tough character assessments would be applicable.

The rejection by Australia comes after senior US general John Altenburg warned against the risks of accepting “war on terror” detainees freed from the Cuban facility.

Major Altenburg told The Weekend Australia newspaper that these are people who were released because it was thought that they weren’t dangerous, adding that in his views, these people shouldn’t be accepted. He said that after taking them in, the country has got the burden of watching them and it is not known whether they are dangerous or not.

Meanwhile, Britain has said that it would consider US resettlement requests on a case by case basis, whereas the European Union is divided on the issue.

The Netherlands have ruled out the acceptance of any newly freed inmates, Portugal and Germany have also signaled the same, Poland is reluctant to accept them, and France is calling for a common European position.

Gillard denied that the stance of Australia ha put it at loggerheads with the incoming Obama administration.

She also didn’t comment on whether as a key US ally in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Australia had a moral obligation of accepting the prisoners of Guantanamo.

She responded to the query by maintaining that the country will assess on a case by case basis, and will always assess against the stringent national security criteria and stringent immigration criteria.