WASHINGTON – The Biden administration had been seeking to transfer 11 detainees from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility to a Middle Eastern country in October 2023 but suddenly halted the transfers amid concerns about political optics following Hamas attacks on Israel, according to four U.S. officials familiar with the plans.
More than seven months later, the administration has not set a new transfer date, and the detainees remain at Guantanamo, with it unclear when or if the transfer will occur, officials said. .
Officials are frustrated by the holdup and believe election-year politics will give way to President Joe Biden’s policies aimed at depopulating Guantánamo and ultimately closing the facility. said. These officials said they were concerned that the likelihood of a transfer occurring before November’s presidential election diminished as the election approached. And they fear the impasse in the process, which has left the 11 men detained for months without clarity on when they will be transferred, could pose human rights concerns. There is.
Officials said the 11 detainees were Yemeni nationals or had ties to Yemen. They were scheduled to be resettled in Oman, officials said.
Multiple U.S. officials said the transfer agreement, including specific timing and terms, is still being discussed with Oman and could be finalized by the end of the year. They said politics were behind the delay and that the transfer was not imminent as some logistics had not been finalized.
A senior government official suggested that Oman had also been unwilling to see the transfer happen since October.
“This is not something that’s sitting around collecting dust somewhere. We’re actively considering all administrative measures to make that happen,” the official said, adding that there are “grievances.” acknowledged.
The White House National Security Council did not respond to a request for comment.
Democrats and Republicans oppose the transfer of detainees from Guantanamo, and the issue has been a political flashpoint through multiple presidential administrations. For example, in January, Democratic leaders on the House and Senate intelligence committees joined with Republican lawmakers to urge the Biden administration to not allow intelligence funds to be used to facilitate the transfer of Guantanamo detainees. .
Biden, like his predecessor, President Barack Obama, has worked to shut down facilities. But while Biden’s predecessor and 2024 presidential opponent, Donald Trump, was in the White House, detainee transfers were largely halted.
Biden administration officials working to close Guantanamo say that if these 11 detainees, who were scheduled to be transferred in October, are not resettled this year and Trump is re-elected, they will remain in the facility for at least four more years. He expressed concern that the country will continue to remain in the country.
According to administration officials involved in the process, an October transfer was imminent, but was canceled at the last minute. The administration has already notified Congress that the transfer will take place, officials said, and the law requires the executive branch to do so at least 30 days before removing Guantanamo detainees.
The transfers will bring Guantanamo’s population below 20 for the first time since it began holding terrorist suspects in January 2002.
Biden administration officials spent months negotiating the terms of the men’s transfer to Oman, including measures to ensure they did not pose a security threat and the compensation they might receive.
U.S. officials said the decision to halt the transfers was unrelated to concerns raised by Oman or to last-minute disagreements between the U.S. and Oman. They said they believed this was the result of members of Congress, primarily Democrats close to the president, privately expressing concerns about the timing.
Most of the 11 detainees were released or cleared for transfer by the United States several years ago after a long process to obtain their status.
Yemen has been in a civil war for nearly a decade, and deporting them there was not a viable option. Although fighting between the Houthis and Yemen’s internationally recognized government backed by Saudi Arabia largely subsided in 2023, the country suffered a widespread humanitarian crisis and terrorist attacks by al-Qaeda affiliates. The situation remains unstable.
Since the Israel-Hamas war began in October, Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have attacked ships in the Red Sea off Yemen’s coast dozens of times. The United States and coalition partners continue to carry out airstrikes in Yemen to defend against Houthi attacks and dislodge weapons.
The deepening turmoil in the Middle East has made the transfer of detainees from Guantanamo even more politically volatile, officials said.
