Written answers

Wednesday, 25 January 2006

Department of Foreign Affairs

Asylum Applications

8:00 pm

Photo of Joe HigginsJoe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Question 683: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if Ireland received a request to grant political asylum to two ethnic Uighurs (details supplied) whose detention at the US prison facility at Guantanamo Bay has been deemed unlawful by a US district judge. [1068/06]

Photo of Dermot AhernDermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I am aware that several men of Uighur origin are being held in the United States detention facility in Guantanamo Bay and are awaiting release. While we have not received any specific request to grant political asylum to the two men indicated in the Deputy's question, the US authorities have in general terms raised with us and with other EU member states the possibility of our offering resettlement assistance to the Uighurs. However, in the light of factors including the absence of any significant Uighur population in Ireland, and the inability of any of those involved to speak English, we do not feel best placed to offer such assistance.

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