In a letter to State Minister Sandra Pierantozzi and Attorney General Ernestine Rengiil said the resettlement of the Uighurs continue to be an issue “of utmost concern to our people and questions persist that need review and responses for both your office.”
The two senators also wanted to be informed on the legal status of the Uighurs under the current immigration law.
“As this is setting a precedent for future acceptance of asylum seekers and people not covered as tourists, workers, or legal residents of Palau, what action, if any , was taken to conform their stay with our immigration laws ?” the letter stated.
The two senators also questioned the funding given by the U.S. to Palau to house the Uighurs.
One of the questions, that the two lawmakers want answered is whether bidding requirements were applicable in the expenditure of public funds.
The letter also noted whether the decision to house the Uighur’s at Sen.Joel Toribiong’s commercial building followed all laws or whether there existed any conflicts of interest in making such a decision.
“Similar questions have previously been raised in leadership meeting by Sen. Oilouch and others but to date, no documents, answers or responses have come yet,” the letter said.
Palau is providing temporary shelter to the six former Guantanamo Bay detainees since November.
The senators said in the light of transparency the responses of Pierantozzi and Rengiil will help shed light and will allow the community to better understand the presence of the Uighurs in Palau.
Palau agreed in June to take up to a dozen Uighurs who were captured during the US-led war in Afghanistan but not later classified as “enemy combatants”.
The president has an outstanding invitation to the remaining five Uighurs in Guantanamo.
Lawyers however for the Uighurs declined to resettle in Palau.
