Canada doesn’t want Gitmo detainees

Thanks, but no thanks. That’s the message Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper relayed to the Obama administration when asked if the country would accept the 17 Uighurs being released from Guantanamo Bay.

From the AP:

Canada has refused a request from the Obama administration to take men cleared for release from the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay.

Kory Teneycke, a spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, today said recent inquiries concerning 17 Chinese Muslims called Uighurs at Guantanamo were rejected.

Mr. Teneycke says Canada won’t take any detainees. He says they have no connection to Canada and there are security concerns.

U.S. authorities no longer consider the Uighurs enemy combatants but have not been able to find a country willing to accept them and have opposed their release into the United States. The Uighurs fear persecution if they are sent back to China.