An interfaith coalition in Tallahassee, Florida, prepared the following plan to accept three Uyghur detainees from Guantánamo Bay in their community. This plan, along with another plan prepared by a Uyghur community in Fairfax County, Virginia, were instrumental in Judge Ricardo Urbina's October 2008 ruling [1] that the 17 Uyghur detainees at Guantánamo must be released into the United States. The Obama administration won its appeal of the ruling [2].
The coalition shared its plan, organized into the following sections:
The operational responsibility for resettlement and monetary disbursements will be handled by a committee.
Money – raising money (a task shared with the Wider Support Group) and disbursement.
Day to day liaison with the men on all elements of resettlement discussed below.
a. Fund-raising and custodian
i. Central financial repository. First Presbyterian Church performed this function citywide for Katrina. The church has set up a separate account for this project. The bookkeeping procedures are those previously used for Katrina, so there is no learning curve. The current balance is $9200. The process of raising money has just commenced.
ii. Other tax-exempt conduits to feed into the central repository, e.g., Presbyterians, Temple Israel, Quakers, Unitarian Universalists, United Church of Christ, Methodists and others. See Wider Support Group, below.
b. Disbursement. The Steering Committee would approve major expenditures and give instructions to First Presbyterian Church. A subset of the Committee will approve lesser expenditures.
Spiritual home: The Islamic Center of Tallahassee
a.Initially public transport supplemented by volunteer supporters.
A Welcome and Transportation Committee will be made up of persons who volunteer from the mosques, churches, and the synagogue.
b. Self-sufficiency
Checkup by doctor and dentist and provision for care. These professional services will be donated and/or financed by the Committee.
Psychological assessment is recommended if the language barrier can be handled.
Instruction in English as second language. Tutors or program.
The Welcome and Transportation Committee will take responsibility for integrating the men into the community. E.g., learning how to shop, structuring opportunities to get out and about, etc.
The men will be given “hot lines” on their cell phones to a limited number of persons who will be available 24/7 to deal with problems not anticipated.
The organization already in place which can reach the greatest number of persons in the shortest time is the Tallahassee Interfaith Clergy. A substantial part of this is already in place in that a number of religious leaders have signed on as of this writing.
The functions of the wider support group are:
Links:
[1] http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/federal-judge-orders-uighurs-in-us-by-friday/
[2] http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/62415.html