Upon taking office, President Barack Obama made it a priority to close within one year the detention facility operating in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

He did so to promote the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States and its closest friends, such as Bermuda. President Obama felt strongly that doing so would advance the interests of justice, while taking away a powerful recruiting tool from terrorists. .

The Executive Order, which the President signed on January 22, 2009 closing Guantánamo, is now being implemented. In recent years, more than five hundred detainees have been cleared for transfer and release, and have already been transferred to thirty-one countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Denmark, France, Egypt, Russia, Spain, and others.

Five Uighur refugees were resettled in Albania in 2006 and have proven to be peaceful members of society.

Now, Bermuda has the opportunity to offer a new life of freedom to four unfortunate men. It is important to emphasise that these individuals were vetted and found by both the Bush and Obama administrations not to be enemy combatants. U.S. courts have ordered these men released.

The Guantánamo Review Task Force conducted comprehensive reviews of each of the individuals, including a threat evaluation, and approved them for resettlement.

According to all of our evidence, these young men never committed any act of terrorism against the United States. They have said that they simply want to have normal, peaceful lives.

But they cannot return to China out of a very real fear of persecution. They are looking for a home, and the Government of Bermuda has welcomed them, inviting them to experience the warmth for which Bermudians are so well known.

Human Rights Watch stated last week: "Getting them (the Uighurs) out of prison and offering them a chance for a normal life is the first priority and the right thing to do."

I would ask the people of Bermuda simply to give these four people a chance. Give them an opportunity to experience democracy and the rule of law at work. Let them know religious freedom.

These are the tenets that have guided both Bermuda and America for 400 years — and have given both our lands opportunities and rights that are virtually unparalleled in our world today. We would ask Bermudians to find it in their hearts to extend a helping hand to these four Uighurs who are searching for a new home and a new life.

These are hard questions. And we respect those on all sides of this difficult debate. But freedom of speech and freedom of the press are cornerstones of a strong democracy – something the Uighur refugees have never experienced.

Congresswoman Diane Watson, one of Bermuda's closest friends in the US House of Representatives, put it well when she said: "Once again Bermuda has demonstrated its reputation for warm-hearted hospitality.

"These four non-combatant refugees from Guantánamo Bay have found in Bermuda a wonderful people whose outstretched arms are a true blessing to them indeed.

"The United States will be eternally grateful to Bermuda for its partnership in helping resettle these innocent men."

The Honourable Gregory W. Slayton is the United States Consul General to Bermuda