Most days, Bingham McCutchen partner Sabin Willett works out of his office in Boston. But on the morning of June 11, Willett was at work in a clothing store in Bermuda. He was accompanying four longtime clients, all four Uighurs–Chinese Muslims from China’s northwest province–who had landed on the island only hours before after spending seven years as Guantanamo detainees. Now free, the men were in need of some basics–shorts, shirts, bathing suits. As they browsed, a local talk show host could be heard on the shopkeeper’s radio, blasting the Bermudan government for taking in the four Uighurs and painting the island’s new inhabitants as Jihadist terrorists
As Willett tells it, the shopkeeper looked up at the ragtag group, looked back down at the radio, then said, “Never mind that lot, welcome to the island.” The response, Willett says, is typical of Bermudans, who less than a week ago welcomed the former detainees to their island paradise. (The Uighurs for their part seem to be enjoying their newfound freedom as well, as this New York Times story about their first days in Bermuda details.)
