Behind the Bermuda deal

Times:

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Facing a backlash from the public Mr Brown insisted that there was no “quid pro quo”. Colonel David Burch, Bermuda’s Home Affairs Minister, who flew to Guantánamo Bay to pick up the Uighurs, said that the idea for them to be resettled in Bermuda originated with the Government’s US lobbyists before the premier’s trip to the White House in mid-May and that Mr Brown had put the proposed to US officials. Bermuda is eager to avoid a crackdown by the Obama Administration on offshore financial centres. “One can reasonably expect that if Bermuda gets to a point where it needs some help, Bermuda is in a much stronger position if it made friends before you need them,” Colonel Burch said.

Britain would have to approve any grant of citizenship, which could entitle the men to live in Britain. The Uighurs are now sharing a holiday flat paid for by the Bermudian Government, which is reimbursed by the United States.

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Bermuda lives off tourism and being the base for corporations looking for favorable tax treatment. Some of the residents worry that the Uighurs will frighten off tourist. Obama clearly owes Bermuda now, but if I were them I would take little comfort in that.