Coll 34/12 'Slavery and Slave Trading: Measures to prevent slavery on the Trucial Coast' [‎3r] (5/473)

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Lat^y Simon has written to the Viceroy about slavery in Qatar * A .
and the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. has been asked for his comments, q
The slave trade in the Gulf has increased since 1939 for three
A- reasons, the shortage of ships of the Rqyal Navy to intercept slave
^oats; the famine in Persia in 1942 and 1943 which made the inhabitants
of Persian Mekran ready to sell their children into slavery; and the
waiving by H*M.G. of the right of manumission in Jedda, which made the
purchase of slaves by Saudi Arabians mofe profitable (the Political
Agents at Koweit, Bahrein and Muscat still retain the right of manumission.)
The chief slave runner is Mirza bin Barkat of Jask, son of Mir Barkat,
notorious at the beginning of this century as a gun runner. In 1942 he
was buying slaves in Persian Mekran, taking them to Fujairah on the Bat in ah
Coast, whence they were sent to Baraimi and on to Central Arabia. A
certain number of these slaves also found their way to Qatar where in 1943
Dohah was becoming a recognised slave mart.
Various steps have been taken to suppress the traffic. In 1941
the Sheikh of Fujairah gave the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. at Muscat an undertaking
that he would do his best to prevent Mirza bin Barkat from using Fujairah
as a base, and the next year was said to have turned him out of his
territory. In 1942 the Saudi Arabian Government expressed its willingness
to co-operate with H.M.G. in the suppression of the trade in Baluchi
slaves and took various measures to carry out their undertaking, but as
Ibn Saud is said to purchase a considerable number of slaves himself and
his Foreign Minister, Sheikh Yusuf Yasin has been suspected of complicity
in the trade in Syrian slaves, it is doubtful how satisfactory these
measures may be. In 1943 the Sheikh of Qatar issued a proclamation
forbidding the export of slaves from Qatar.
It seems probable, however, that little can be done to put down
the traffic until the Navy cam spare sufficient suitable ships to patrol
the Gulf adequately.
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