In his column in the National Review Online, he links to an article in last Friday’s edition of The Royal Gazette, which described how Khalil Mamut, Abdulla Abdulqadir, Ablikim Turahun and Salahidin Abdulahadare were still stranded on the Island without passports almost four-and-a-half years after arriving here.

Mr Steyn, in a column headlined ‘Uighurs in Limbo’, writes that the Obama administration did a “back room deal” with Dr Brown, infuriating the British Government, which was left out of the talks.

“A couple of years ago in Bermuda, I chanced to see all four Uighurs crossing the street in front of me in St. George’s, like the Abbey Road album cover recreated by a Uighur tribute band,” he writes. “And they didn’t look happy. They were the lonesomest Uighurs in town.

“Today’s edition of Bermuda’s Royal Gazette helps explain why. Not being a nation state, the colony does not issue passports. Bermudians travel on British passports issued by the Passport Office in the UK — and, because Obama infringed British sovereignty by dumping Gitmo detainees within Her Majesty’s dominions, London won’t allow them to apply for naturalisation. And the US refuses to have them back. So they’re in limbo.”

He concludes: “From my experience, very few officials among foreign governments like this administration at all, because it pulls stuff like this all the time. Obama insults America’s allies, moves on, and leaves others to sort out the mess.”