After many months in stateless limbo, six Chinese Uighurs were released Sunday to the lush tropical island state of Palau.  They had expressed their doubts, not expecting to find many fellow Uighurs on the island, but they seem to have warmed to the idea of a little R and R in the surf and the sun.

And why not?  The only other nation bidding for them, China, would like to try them as terrorists and execute them.  The reason it has been hard for the Uighurs to find even a temporary home is that few nations want to cross this emerging power.  Even the US had planned to take them in itself, but reconsidered.  Palau, which is nominally independent and really a US territory in all but name, is almost as good as settling in the states, if you do not count the small population and near-isolation in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  There the men plan to learn English and lobby for asylum in Australia, according to their lawyer.

The Republic of Palau is a Pacific island nation of some 20,000 inhabitants, and based on all I have read it appears to have white sand beaches, crystal blue waters, and lush inland forests.  It gained formal independence in 1994 and has a Compact of Free Association with the United States.  Interestingly, Palau recognized Taiwan’s sovereignty in 1999, which is contrary to the official US one-China policy.  In general Palau sounds like a great place to visit, and if you are interested you can find more information on the Palau Visitor’s Authority website.

Uighurs are a Turkic ethnic group native to a region in north-western China, which the Chinese government, as per its policy, is attempting to integrate into its vision of a greater China.  There has been a history of tension and some violence between this community and the central government.  Uighurs are Muslim, and from the Chinese government’s perspective any Uighurs that the US found hanging out in Afghanistan were clearly up to no good.  The dilemma for the US is that these men clearly pose no threat to America.  The US government wants good relations with China, but simply handing the detainees over to be killed would create a human rights issue, not solve the existing human rights issue that is Guantanamo.

Twenty-two Uighurs were originally detained by the US during operations in Afghanistan in 2001.  Four were accepted by Bermuda, a British island territory, before the offer by Palau.  The Chinese government has lodged a formal complaint protesting that the detainees were not extradited to China; but over six otherwise anonymous young men the fall-out probably will not be that serious.