Canada Balked At Guantanamo Refugees

The U.S. was not prepared to resettle the men in its own territory, but could not send them back to China for fear they would face persecution. Canada _ like other countries _ seemed ill at ease with taking on refugees to remedy a massive public-relations headache for its southern neighbor. Today, 17 of the men are still being held and live in isolation for 22 hours a day. "Canadian officials indicated to the U.S. delegation that the men would likely also be inadmissible under Canadian immigration law," says a Foreign Affairs briefing note prepared about a meeting last May. In Washington, the Pentagon confirmed the U.S. government had talks with other countries over the possible transfer of detainees. "The government has long stated that we have no desire to be the world's jailer. To that end, we continue to discuss with other governments the possibility of transferring detainees once humane treatment and continuing threat concerns have been satisfactorily addressed by the receiving country," Pentagon spokesman Greg Hicks told The Associated Press in an e-mail. "Although many in the international community have called for the closure of Guantanamo, few states have offered a viable alternative for what to do with the dangerous men held there." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/15/AR2007081502131_pf.html [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on August 16, 2007]

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