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The Premier's unilateral decision to accept the four former Guantanamo Bay detainees without consulting His Excellency the Governor, or his own Cabinet or Caucus, demonstrated a clear disregard for the democratic process.

The Premier's decision also raised a series of practical issues that to date have not been addressed by either the Premier or anyone else in Government.

When the Premier and the Immigration Minister sprung their surprise on the people of Bermuda on the morning of June 11, the Premier said the four former detainees had "landed in Bermuda in the short-term, provided with the opportunity to become naturalised citizens and thereafter afforded the right to travel and leave Bermuda potentially settling elsewhere."

But if the United Kingdom government has not cleared them from a security point of view, just how are they going to travel? If it is decided they pose a security risk, who will issue them a passport? Their travel to the United States is likely to be restricted anyway, given that country's refusal to accept them in the first place, but at the moment they don't have passports to travel anywhere.

Indeed, aside from very serious questions about the Premier's disregard for the Constitution - the supreme law of Bermuda - we also still do not know what the security risk is, if any, as the Uyghurs settle into life on the Island. The Bermuda Police Service wasn't given the information necessary for them to give a considered view on that point, while the British government wasn't advised about the Premier's decision to accept the Uyghurs until the plane carrying them to Bermuda had left Cuba.

That raises the question of whether the Premier or Minister Burch reviewed any security appraisals whatsoever before the freedom flight. If so, which body provided them? Can that information be verified? Will it be made public? Until they receive security clearance, is anyone monitoring our four visitors?

Police certificates

Every applicant for a work permit in Bermuda must undergo a proper medical assessment, including x-rays. Have the four Uyghurs had a proper medical assessment? Is the Bermuda Government in possession of doctor's certificates, x-rays and police certificates, as immigration requires for all applications to work on the Island?

What process was employed to get the detainees through immigration so quickly and into a position to qualify for a work permit?

If the Uyghurs are approved to work in Bermuda, as the Premier has suggested, it begs the question of what kind of work they will do. Will they get preference over Bermudian workers?

Since the Premier has said that they will be given the opportunity to obtain Bermuda Status, does this mean that they are receiving special treatment that has been denied the many long-term residents and Bermuda-born children who for any number of reasons have been denied this opportunity? In fact, one even wonders how Government can offer them Bermuda Status before they are naturalised by the United Kingdom.

On top of all that, we now hear that the United States government is contributing $100,000 per Uyghur to defray expenses. It won't take long to burn through that amount of money, so we must ask who is monitoring those expenses - and what happens when the money runs out? Will Bermudian taxpayers then be on the hook?

Instead of answers to these legitimate questions, we instead get a dog and pony show from the Premier with Reverend Al Sharpton flown to the Island, and a press conference featuring four Chinese "business people" paying Bermuda a visit to demonstrate that there are no hard feelings. The Government spin is making our heads hurt.

Meanwhile, we continue to experience gun violence with four incidents in a seven-day period as gang activity takes an even stronger hold on our community - and issues related to education and road safety wait for the proper attention to be paid to them.

It is time for the Premier to provide answers to the variety of questions that Bermudians have about the Uyghurs. Then, perhaps he can begin working on the other important issues facing our community rather than attempting to spin his way out of yet another mess of his own making, or travelling the world on (official) business.

Senator Michael Dunkley is shadow minister for public safety

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