Two Uighur prisoners from the US Guantánamo Bay detention centre have been transferred to Switzerland.

The Swiss government decided to grant asylum to the two brothers for humanitarian reasons despite protests from China which regards the two Uighurs as terrorists. Beijing has warned Bern that its decision may adversely affect relations. The Uighurs are a Turkic ethnic group in the Chinese province of Xinjiang. They are predominantly Muslim.

US President Barack Obama wants to close Guantánamo Bay but not all prisoners can be sent back to their country of origin because they may be at risk of being tortured. Widespread domestic opposition in the US has meant the Guantánamo prisoners cannot be relocated to the continental United States. A number of US allies have offered to take in some of the Guantánamo detainees.