File 5655/1918 Pt 2 'Mesopotamia: Refugee Camp at Baqubah (1920 – papers)' [‎95r] (195/946)

2651 100 11/20
Circulated by tbe Secretary of State for India.
SECRET.
The Assyrian and Armenian Refugees in Mesopotamia.
Memorandum by the Secretary of State for India.
In continuation of my former paper (C.P. 1570, dated otli July 1920, copy, of
which is attached for convenience of reference) I circulate to my colleagues the
following statement with regard to the position of the Ba’qubah refugees.
It is as follows :—
(1) Assyrians.—They are now concentrated in the Mosul Vilayet between Mosul
and ‘Aqra. Sir P. Cox on 16th October telegraphed that the forward movement of
the first portion [i.e., to their destination in accordance with the proposals of
Sir A. Wilson referred to in my statement of 5th July] has commenced and should
be completed before the winter. Sir P. Cox has been asked by telegram what portion
he anticipates will remain for repatriation next spring. It is clear from the monthly
reports of the Director of Repatriation, Lieut.-Col. Cunliffe-Owen, that the task
of transporting these refugees from Ba’qubah to the Mosul Vilayet, in the midst of
Arab risings and in spite of Arab attacks on the Ba’qubah camp, has not been easy,
and I desire to draw the attention of my colleagues to the excellent work done by
Col. Cunliffe-Owen and the officers under his command in the face of great danger
and obstacles.
In the meantime the French Ambassador in two notes to the Foreign Office,
dated 11th September and 28th September, has represented the desirability of
repatriating a certain number of these refugees, who, he alleges, came originally
from the area west of Jazirat al ’Umar in the sphere of the French mandate, to their
original homes ; and has proposed that the French and British Grovernments should
arrive at an agreement for the purpose of safeguarding the interests of these Christian
communities in the future. I circulate with this statement a copy of a letter, which
I have caused to he sent to the Foreign Office, and of a note on the different Christian
communities, in which I have attempted to show that the French Government can
have no legitimate interest in the Assyrians who are on our charge as refugees, seeing
that the former homes of these people lay in districts well to the east of the area
of the French mandate.
(2) Armenians. —14,000 are concentrated near Basrah awaiting repatriation.
Their own desire is to be repatriated to the Erivan district of Armenia via Batum.
The disposal of these Armenians is to form the subject of an Inter-Departmental
meeting as soon as a reply is received by the Foreign Office to a telegram sent to
Colonel Stokes at Tiflis, enquiring whether, in fact, the Armenian Republic would be
prepared to receive the refugees. The object of the meeting will be to decide what
policy wdll be most to the interests of His Majesty’s Government in regard to these
Armenians. Sir A. Wilson thought that in the last resort they might be settled in
Mesopotamia. But Sir P. Cox states that they will be bitterly disappointed if they
are not repatriated to Erivan, and that they are of all refugees the least easy to
settle in Mesopotamia, since they have little cohesion, and many of them are non
agriculturists. It appears to be in the interests of this country and of the Armenians
themselves, and in accordance with the principles of the Peace Conference, that they
should, if possible, be repatriated to an Armenian country. The sooner this is made
possible the better, as the estimated cost of their maintenance at Basrah is 2,000L
a day.
(3) It is believed that there are no refugees left at the Ba’qubah camp by
this time.
India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. , E. S. M.
4th November 1920.