US Sought Asylum for Guantanamo Prisoners in Finland
Image: AP Graphics Bank
The United States asked to send 15 refugees from the detention camp in Guantanamo, Cuba to Finland over a year ago, according to the newspaper Kaleva.
The prisoners, who were found not guilty of terrorism, are Chinese Uighurs, as their ethnic group is called.
However, the US does not want to return the men, who are Muslims, back to China. They fear the men could be tortured.
According to the Finnish Under-Secretary of State Markus Lyra, the request by the US did not go far. Finland only accepts refugees via the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Hundreds of prisoners are currently detained at Guantanamo. Several have been found not guilty of terrorism and await return to their homeland or to another country.
Finnish News Agency