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File 5655/1918 Pt 2 'Mesopotamia: Refugee Camp at Baqubah (1920 – papers)' [206r] (420/946)
The record is made up of 1 volume (464 folios). It was created in 27 Dec 1919-30 Dec 1920. It was written in English and French. The original is part of the British Library: 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. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
7 .
iriuo the mosul division, in tne I'om of a concentration camp
between MOSUL and AQRA, ■which would form the starting off
point ol tne armed men proceeding across the border to NERI.
Tne Rome G-overnment were informed by the Civil Commissioner,
at the conclusion of the conference, of what was contemplated.
Subject to the military situation proving favourable, the
preliminary movement could take place, the Home Government
having sanctioned such movement under the scheme of the
Nestorian
enclave
An area of land belonging to one country and entirely surrounded by land of just one other country.
of 1919 ( already described in detail in
previous report on the Refugees for 1918-1919.)
On putting the scheme to the representative com-
mittees of the Refugees at Baquba, out of the 23,000 Assyrians
( both Mountaineer and Urmian ), seventy five per cent were
immediately enthusiastic and were prepared to proceed forth
with, The remaining twenty five per cent, consisting of
certain of the Mountaineer tribes did not desire to leave
British territory, without actual British armed protection.
They preferred a permanent settlement within the boundaries of
Iraq, when they realised that repatriation to their old homes
under British protection was no longer a possibility. (Later,
when the actual movement commenced, this party changed their
opinion.)
On receipt of the sanction of the G-.0 . C.-in-C .,
*
steps were taken to put the scheme into operation. Rifles were
obtained and issued out to the fit men xatmxixihs amongst the
Assyrians. A site for a concentration camp was fixed to the
north east of MOSUL, at MINDAM, to accommodate in the first
instance, five to six thousand people, later to be increased
departure of the
to twenty thousand. And the beginning of May saw the/first
echelon of movements of Refugees wtoth animals to the MOSUL
division. By the fifteenthn of May, some five thousand Refugees
men, women and children, with fifteen hundred animals had depart
ed from Baquba for the concentration camp beyond MOSUL. All
these were volunteers and elected for repatriation under the
scheme. By the end of May some ten thousand Refugees should
About this item
- Content
This volume contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, telegrams and minutes. It mainly covers conversations between British and French officials regarding the Christian (mostly Assyrian and Armenian) refugees in the refugee camp at Baqubah [also written Ba’qubah, Ba’quba and Baquba] in Mesopotamia [approximately corresponding to present-day Iraq], and their possible repatriation.
Related matters of discussion include the following: the health of the refugees; background; labour capacity; expenses and payments of the refugee camp; administration of the camp and its economic challenges; transportation for repatriation. Included in the correspondence are letters from Surma Khanin D’Mar Shimun describing the situation of the camp and asking for changes to the camp, and for the return of the Assyrians and Armenians. In addition, there are some inquiries received by British officials from Christian Assyrians. Also mentioned are the following: the ‘Christian Army of Revenge’, French propaganda among the Assyrians, Assyrio-Chaldean [Assyro-Chaldeans] refugees in Russia, and the American Mission.
In addition, the volume includes the following:
- Details of the numbers of Armenian refugees in the camp at Baqubah on 7 December 1919 (f 462)
- Memoranda on the Armenian refugees present in the camp 1919 (ff 436-459)
- Notes on the Assyrian refugees in the camp, dated July 1920 (ff 199-210)
- List of the number of Armenians in the camp (ff 104-105)
- A memorandum on the Assyrian and Armenian refugees in Mesopotamia (ff 95-97)
- A map showing a ‘Proposed Nestorian Enclave’ (f 466).
The principal correspondents are: Civil Commissioner, Baghdad; British High Commission, Constantinople [Istanbul]; British Embassy in Washington; British Consulate, Tabriz; War Office; Lord Curzon, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, British Delegation, Paris; officials at the refugee camp at Baqubah; French Embassy, London; Board of Foreign Mission of the Presbyterian Church in the United States; the Mar Shimun family.
The volume includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (464 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume’s contents are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.
The subject 5655 (Mesopotamia) consists of 3 volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/773-775. The volumes are divided into 4 parts, with part 1 comprising the first volume, part 2 comprising the second volume, and parts 3-4 comprising the third volume.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 468; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 197-462; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
- Written in
- English and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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File 5655/1918 Pt 2 'Mesopotamia: Refugee Camp at Baqubah (1920 – papers)' [206r] (420/946), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/774, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100184391545.0x000043> [accessed 12 July 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/774
- Title
- File 5655/1918 Pt 2 'Mesopotamia: Refugee Camp at Baqubah (1920 – papers)'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:6v, 9r:19v, 24r:35v, 36ar, 36r:70v, 72r:78v, 80r:88v, 90r:122v, 123ar, 123r:133v, 136r:153v, 154ar, 155r:158v, 160r:177v, 181r:183v, 185r:187v, 192r:192v, 194r:197v, 199r:203v, 204ar, 204r:231v, 234r:242v, 244r:271v, 277r:278v, 279ar, 279r:282v, 284r:293v, 294ar, 294r:310v, 312r:332v, 334r:349v, 353r:364v, 367r:383v, 389r:389v, 391r:397v, 399r:408v, 418r:465v, 467r:467v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence