Bermuda's four Uighurs expect to be given passports after a year on the Island, they told The Royal Gazette this week.

The men — who arrived from Guantánamo Bay exactly six months ago — said their American lawyer advised them they would not be able to go overseas for their first 12 months here but would then get the travel documents.

Khalil Mamut, 31, speaking on behalf of himself and his three countrymen, said a US Army general told them the same thing when they were still in the notorious detention camp, after Bermuda agreed to give them refuge.

"He came and spoke to us," said Mr. Mamut. "The general told us that. I'm not sure which [country's] passport we'll be given, but they told us: 'after one year you'll be given a passport and after one year you can see your relatives'."

The four Muslim men said they missed much about their Turkestan homeland, especially family and friends, but wanted to settle in Bermuda for the rest of their lives and hopefully raise families here.

Whether they will be able to do that remains to be seen, as Britain has still not delivered its verdict on whether they can become "naturalised citizens" — as suggested by Premier Ewart Brown when they first landed.

Dr. Brown brought Mr. Mamut, Ablikim Turahun, Salahidin Abdulahad and Abdulla Abdulqadir here in secret on June 11 after negotiating directly with the US without Britain's knowledge.

The UK was furious and has been in talks with the US about the men ever since. Asked this week whether any resolution was in sight, Deputy Governor David Arkley said: "The matter is still under discussion with the US authorities."

One of the men's US attorneys, Jason Pinney, from Bingham law firm, said yesterday: "I see them as happily settled in Bermuda.

"From speaking with them, they are in love with the Island, they are in love with the people, they are in love with the culture. I think they are much happier there than they can ever have dreamed."

Asked if they were promised passports after a year, he said: "I think the hope has always been that at some point in time the men will be able to travel, if they so desire."

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband has said Britain has no intention of taking any more than the 13 Guantánamo detainees it has already accepted.

Mr. Pinney said questions about whether the UK would grant the Uighurs citizenship or tell the US to find somewhere else for them to live were "sticky, thorny" ones.

"They are fraught with legal and political issues," he said. "I can't comment on what the British Government is going to do. What I can say is that the men are happy. They are living peacefully.

"They are very grateful to Bermuda for accepting them and I don't know if citizenship is something that they are keen on."

Dr. Brown told this newspaper he did not expect a decision to be made about the men until Guantánamo Bay closes, which is expected to happen next year.

Asked why, the Premier replied: "Just from little pieces I have picked up over the past few months. People are prepared to let things rest until then, then we'll have another look as to what happens next."

Immigration Minister David Burch said: "Since their arrival in Bermuda, the four gentlemen have settled into Bermuda's community very well and are doing fine."

Attorney General Kim Wilson said in July she believed the Uighurs were lawfully brought to the Island and had every legal right to "remain and reside" here indefinitely — but that nothing currently existed in law to allow them to apply for or be given Bermudian status or any kind of permanent residency or naturalisation.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London did not respond to requests for comment.