"ملف ١٩٣/٥ I (ب ٢٣) الرق في الخليج" [و‎‎١‎٧‎٢] (٤٤٤/٣٥٢)

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[Thi» Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty’s Government.J
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PERSIA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[E 5967/2100/34]
December 17, 1928.
Section 3.
No. 1.
Sir R. Clive to Lord Cushendun.—{Received December 17.)
(No. 489.)
My Lord, Tehran, 'November 22, 1928.
WITH reference to Mr. Parr’s despatch No. 472, under cover of which copies
of recent correspondence exchanged with the Persian Government in regard to the
traffic in slaves were transmitted to your Lordship, I have the honour to enclose
herein the translation of an article which appeared in the Tehran paper “ Shafaq
Surkh ” on the subject of the contraband which is carried on in the Persian Gulf in
goods of which the Persian Government holds the monopoly and its relation to the
traffic in slaves.
2. Although the Tehran press is more or less strictly censored, I understand
that the “ Shafaq Surkh,” whose editor is a Deputy, enjoys rather more freedom than
other newspapers, and this public admission of the existence of slave traffic, following
as it does closely on the official denial of such traffic, may cause some embarrassment
to the Persians when the question is brought forward for discussion. I am therefore
carefully preserving a copy of the “ Shafaq ” for possible use in the future.
Copies of this despatch, and of its enclosure, are being sent to the Government
of India and His Majesty’s High Commissioner for Iraq, Bagdad.
I have, &c.
R. H. CLIVE.
v/lS
Enclosure in No. 1.
Translation of an Article which appeared in the “ Shafaq Surkh " on 28 Aban, 1307,
{November 19, 1928).
Steps for the Prevention of Smuggling.
THE customs officers of the southern ports have sent a detailed report to the
Ministry of Finance to the effect that the inhabitants of Rudgar, Bashagird and
Baluchistan are engaged in the purchase and sale of slaves and in the carrying of boys
and girls. People of means and possessed of sailing craft carry these slaves to the
Oman coast, especially to Batineh. They ply their trade in the districts of Nahki
and Bazerik (to the west of Jask) and at Bachadan and Sahl (to the east of Jask),
and they exchange the slaves in Batineh for goods of which the Government holds
the monopoly, such as tobacco, &c., which they smuggle into Persia.
The report states that, among other cases, recently a boy and a girl named
Pir Gholam were carried off to the district mentioned above by the nephew of
Mir Barkat Khan, acting through the intermediary of a certain Yusuf Abdullah,
but that when the Arab purchasers heard their lamentations and supplications,
they saw that they were free and of good stock and were not slaves, so they refused to
buy them. The people in these places are, in general, very poor, and, although they
possess all the facilities for smuggling, their poverty dees not allow them to carry oh
a large trade. If, however, no preventive measures are taken against this trade,
apart from the fact that it is degrading in the eyes of foreigners and is incompatible
with the national reputation, it will cause much loss to the State revenue. It is
therefore requested that immediate and energetic measures be taken to stop these
practices after the matter has received the necessary attention.