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Editorial

Helping US deal with Guantanamo Bay detainees

Dhivehi Observer, 20 June 2010

The news of transferring two Guantanamo Bay detainees to the Maldives has been grabbing headlines for a couple of months now and the opposition is making a meal of it, as if there are no other pressing issues for them to deal with.

According to Maldives’ diplomats, this was just a simple request from the US government, to help them deal with the remaining detainees who do not want to remain in the US and who are not willing to be repatriated to their own countries fearing persecutions.

It’s not often that a small country like the Maldives is asked to help a big powerful nation such as the United States of America. Maldives was asked to help them because Maldives is a neutral Islamic country, when it comes to international issues, such as terrorism and the Middle East conflict.

According to reports, initially, two Chinese citizens were suggested but due to objection from their government, the Maldives declined. The US then suggested two others, including a Palestinian, who does not want to be sent back to his homeland, as he is on the Israel watch-list, according to a Foreign Ministry official.

One would have thought that Maldives being an Islamic country, would be more than willing to provide assistance to a fellow Muslim brother, who had been incarcerated for years only on the suspicion of being involved in terrorism. These are the people who were randomly picked up and locked up without a charge and who were never put on trial. However, some of our vocal parliamentarians, who are against the idea, are treating and referring to the brothers as hardcore terrorists and them being in the Maldives as a national security matter.

It is apparent from the arguments of the parliamentarians who oppose this move that they do not have a clue as to the purpose of this exercise nor the reason why the new administration in the US is requesting us for help. In addition, with the new democratic powers of the parliament, the opposition is always looking for issues to criticize the government no matter what the consequence may be. Such actions leads us to question whether our representatives in the parliament are always acting in the national interest but to cater for their own agenda, which is to regain power.

The government has now discussed the matter at the highest level. A meeting of the National Security Council was held last week. They are responsible for advising the Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces on all matters of national security.

The Council mainly discussed security implications and the ability of the authorities to ensure national security associated with any such transfer.

So, what is the big deal? Why is the opposition making such a fuss over this issue? Is it really something that will compromise our national security? And, does the government have the legal grounds for going ahead and help these people?

The opposition’s argument is quite ridiculous. That is the fact of the matter.

One opposition MP questioned as to why the United States is unable to deal with this issue without help from a small nation like the Maldives. They also wonder why these people cannot be returned to the same place from where they were initially apprehended. Another had a quick fix to the problem. ‘Why not just bomb Guantanamo Bay and eliminate them all!’ he suggested.

It is quite clear from all this that the opposition is not really concerned about the issue of national security but rather they are trying to back-track the government and create confusion among the public for their own political gain.

One thing is certain, strengthening our friendship with the world’s most powerful nation, the United States of America, can only be good for our national security. As we can all remember, when the Guerilla force attacked the Maldives in November 1988, it was the US government that reacted first and offered to assist us. It is also the United States that is helping our security officials with matters relating to international terrorism and building capacity in our armed forces.

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