Several Uighurs held at Guantanamo Bay prison have appealed to the German government for asylum. A remote Pacific island has agreed to accept them but only on a temporary basis. Seema Saifee, a lawyer for the Uighur detainees, told Spiegel Online that their case had been put to the German government. “Our clients implore the federal government to open the door of Germany for them and to persuade other European nations to give protection to many other stateless Guantanamo prisoners,” Saifee said. Germany’s Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble made it clear last week that a decision could not be made because Germany regarded the information provided by the US State Department on the Uighurs as insufficient. The interior ministry has refused other applications from former Guantanamo inmates on national security grounds. Saifee said the men had been “upset and disappointed” by the critical attitude of Germany’s interior minister. “The Uighurs see Germany with the largest Uighur community in Europe as the best way to end their imprisonment for nearly a decade at Guantanmo Bay,” she said.
