Three Guantanamo detainees apply for asylum in Switzerland

22 August 2008

BERNE — Three detainees at the US Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba have applied for political asylum in Switzerland, reports said Thursday.

The men are from Libya, Algeria and China, the Swiss federal office for migration confirmed. The Chinese man is a member of China’s Uighur Muslim minority.

The spokesman for the migration office, Jonas Montani, told dpa that the applications would be handled like any other.

According to Swiss media reports, the three asylum seekers have been released from the US prison camp without charge. The camp was set up following the 2001 attacks on the US for suspected terrorists.

[dpa / Expatica]