Guardian Report: Uighurs Want To Be With Family
“More than a decade after the three Uighur men were released to Bermuda and Albania, they are unable to join their families, who have since moved to Canada,” according to a report in the Guardian.
The story said, “They were captured by bounty hunters, shipped across the world by American soldiers and held for years in Guantánamo Bay.
“Salahidin Abdulahad, Khalil Mamut and Ayoub Mohammed were eventually cleared by US courts and released. Their time in the notorious prison, however, continues to haunt them.
“More than a decade after the three Uighur men were released to Bermuda and Albania, they are unable to join their families, who have since moved to Canada.
“Although a string of US court rulings found that the men had no links to terrorism, the government of Justin Trudeau argues that they were once militant separatists – and still pose a threat to national security.
“I want to do everything for my family. My kids know they have a daddy, but they can’t live with him or see him,” said Abdulahad. “Knowing that makes me feel so guilty.”
“The men, now in the 40s, have suffered more than most can imagine, said Toronto-based lawyer Prasanna Balasundaram, who has taken on their cases. “Living away from their families is having a profound mental toll on them. I meet with their spouses, I meet with their children, and it’s clear the weight everyone bears.”
“Unable to travel, the men have watched their families grow up from a distance. Their wives and children make occasional trips to see them in Bermuda and Albania, but the visits are costly and never feel long enough.
“It’s very hard for my kids to leave because they’re crying and they want to stay with me. It breaks my heart when they finally leave,” Abdulahad said through a translator.
You can read the full story here on the Guardian.
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