§ 28. Mr. Watkinsasked the Home Secretary whether he is now able to publish the categories of enemy aliens eligible for exemption, and the procedure to be followed for making applications for exemption?
§ Sir J. AndersonA White Paper containing this information was presented to the House yesterday.
§ Mr. WatkinsWill the Minister consider asking the Advisory Committee to look into the question of aliens who may not be covered by the 18 categories contained in the White Paper? Many of these aliens are strongly anti-Nazi and friendly to us, and will he consider releasing them?
§ Sir J. AndersonThe Advisory Committee is now engaged on that task.
§ Mr. WedgwoodIs the Minister aware that the White Paper meets with almost universal reprobation? May I ask the Leader of the House whether he will give us an opportunity of debating it on a Motion or a Vote of Censure?
§ Sir Joseph LambCan the Home Secretary give equal consideration to those evacuees, Britishers, who have gone from coastal areas into Midland areas?
§ Mr. SilvermanCan the Minister say whether internees who make application in accordance with the procedure adopted will have the right to be personally heard?
§ Sir J. AndersonI cannot say that at the moment. The first task is to review the categories of exemption and see whether further categories can be framed, under which action could be taken forthwith. The examination of individual cases is constantly proceeding, but I cannot at the moment say what opportunities it will be possible to give to individual aliens to represent their cases in person.
§ 29. Mr. Sorensenasked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that considerable delay still occurs in communication between internees and their relatives and friends; that correspondence sent by Members of this House to internees in the Isle of Man has received no reply for the last three weeks; what further steps he will take to secure reasonable speed of communication between internees who may now be in the Dominions and their relatives and friends in Great Britain; and how information may be secured as to whether internees are in this country or have been sent overseas and the addresses to which correspondence for them may be sent?
§ Sir J. AndersonI much regret the delays which have been occurring in regard to communications to and from internees, but the various difficulties which have caused these delays are being surmounted. An Inquiry Bureau where information can be obtained as to the whereabouts of internees will, I hope, be opened next week. I will circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT the addresses to which correspondence for internees sent to the Dominions may be sent.
§ Mr. SorensenIs the Minister aware that this extraordinary delay in correspondence has caused untold distress? Is he also aware that some of those sent overseas have not been allowed to communicate with friends or relatives here and that the latter know nothing of the internees' whereabouts? Could the Minister arrange for Members of Parliament to have special facilities in order to communicate with internees?
§ Sir J. AndersonI do not think special facilities are necessary for any particular class. I am doing my best to overcome the difficulties to which reference has been made.
§ Mr. Edmund HarveyIn order to avoid delay, could the Minister supply a printed postcard to every internee so that they could inform their relatives at once of their whereabouts?
§ Sir J. AndersonThat matter is the subject of Question 31.
§ Following are the addresses:
§ In the case of Canada:
§ c/o Operations Base.
§ Army Post Office.
§ Canada.
§ In the case of Australia:
§ c/o Prisoners of War Information Bureau,
§ Melbourne,
§ Australia.
§ 30. Sir Richard Aclandasked the Home Secretary whether he will exempt from internment enemy aliens in respect of whom it can be shown by reference to their positive acts in the past that they are opposed to the Nazi régime?
§ Sir J. AndersonThis is one of the questions which I have referred to the Advisory Committee for consideration.
§ Mr. G. StraussIs the Home Secretary aware that under the list published Professor Einstein, Toscanini and Thomas Mann would still be in internment camps?
§ Sir J. AndersonI think that is questionable, but the list published was a statement of the conditions of exemption that were laid down in connection with the policy of general internment.
§ Sir R. AclandCan we have an early decision on this matter? Many people feel that it is the most important matter to be settled at this moment.
§ 31. Sir R. Aclandasked the Home Secretary whether he has withdrawn the Regulation which prevents enemy alien internees from writing letters until the tenth day of their internment; and whether he has made newspapers available to the internees?
§ Sir J. AndersonThe responsibility for the management of internment camps for 1385 male enemy aliens is to be transferred to my Department on 5th August. I understand that the existing Regulations allow two field-service postcards to be sent on arrival at the internment camp and two letters a week thereafter. I also understand that the ban on newspapers has been removed. I am considering the question of revising the Regulations on this and other matters.
§ Sir R. AclandWould the Home Secretary find out who was responsible for the appalling mental agony of these people who were not even allowed to have an ordinary newspaper posted up in the camp so that they could know what was happening in the world week after week? Who was responsible?
§ Sir J. AndersonSo far as I am concerned, I can most profitably direct the efforts of my Department towards getting things right for the future.
§ Sir R. AclandIs the right hon. Gentleman not aware that a great many people want to know who has been to blame for the terrible things that have happened? They want to know who is behind it.
Miss RathboneWill the right hon. Gentleman make this very simple arrangement: Will he publish information as to where relatives can consult a list of internees? Does he know that in many cases their whereabouts cannot be traced?
§ Sir J. AndersonThat difficulty will be removed in the course of the next few days.
§ Sir Percy HarrisMay I ask the Leader of the House whether he will have some inquiry made to find out who is responsible?
§ Mr. AttleeIf the hon. Baronet will put down a Question to me, I will answer it.
§ 35. Mr. Wedgwoodasked the Home Secretary whether Hans Alec Rosenfelder, whose wife is a British subject, last heard of in the Isle of Man, has been deported; whether, in view of the fact that he is prepared to serve in the British Army, he comes under any of the categories of those to be released; and, if in Canada, can his British wife and child get an exit permit to join him?
§ Sir J. AndersonThis man is in the Isle of Man. If he applies for enlistment and is accepted, he will be released.
§ Mr. WedgwoodIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that I received a letter from him this morning, dated 3rd July, which has been held up by the censor, and that he has now been emigrated to Australia?
§ Sir J. AndersonI am not aware of that. The information that I have just given is the information supplied to me. Of course, I will look into the matter. There is always a possibility of confusion.
§ 36. Mr. Wedgwoodasked the Home Secretary whether any of the present or prospective categories cover the release from internment of Otto Schafer, in view of the fact that he was an officer in the Austrian air force in the last war and desires to serve the cause of freedom in the air?
§ Sir J. AndersonI have received an application for this man's release on grounds of ill-health, and inquiries are being made.
§ 37. Mr. Wedgwoodasked the Home Secretary how many of the anti-Nazi so-called enemy aliens recently interned have been released up to date; and how many he expects to set free before the end of August?
§ Sir J. AndersonUp to last Saturday I had authorised the release of 192 Germans and Austrians who had been interned in pursuance of general directions. I regret that I am unable to prophesy as to the future.
§ Mr. Wilfrid RobertsHow long does the right hon. Gentleman expect the delay to be between the actual authorisation and the release of these men?
§ Sir J. AndersonIt should not be more than two days.
§ Major MilnerIs the right hon. Gentleman not aware that a fortnight ago releases were authorised and that these people have not been released yet?
§ Sir J. AndersonThat is perfectly true. It is due to a certain confusion in the records, which was the result of the haste with which certain measures were taken.
§ 39. Major Milnerasked the Home Secretary what number of aliens, and in what categories, are now confined in the 1387 ordinary prisons of the country, instead of in properly constituted camps; in what respects does the treatment of such aliens differ from that of ordinary prisoners convicted of criminal offences; and whether he regards the position in these respects as satisfactory?
§ Sir J. Anderson117 German or Austrian women interned under the Prerogative are at present in prison pending transfer to the Isle of Man when accommodation becomes available. 355 non-enemy aliens against whom deportation orders have been made are detained in prison under Article 12 (5A) of the Aliens Order, 1920, as amended. There is also a certain number of aliens who, having been refused leave to land, are temporarily detained in prisons while further inquiries about them are being made. All these persons are treated in the same manner as unconvicted persons on remand or awaiting trial.
§ Major MilnerHave any of these categories any opportunity of appeal to a committee or other person, and is it not a fact that the prisons in which they are confined are very much overcrowded and under-staffed, that these people are short of exercise, have no newspapers and can write only once a week, and that the conditions are very unsatisfactory?
§ Sir J. AndersonPerfectly true. Recent happenings have imposed a very heavy strain on the prison organisation. I am doing everything I can to improve the position.
§ 42. Mr. J. P. Morrisasked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that Horst Giesener, 16 years of age, son of a domestic servant, Kate Giesener, a German refugee residing at 70, Cavendish Road, Kersal, Salford, was interned on 16th May; that the Home Office in a communication, dated 17th July, stated that if the boy's employers notified their willingness to employ him he would be released; that the employers did signify such intention but the boy has not yet been released; that letters and parcels sent to him at Huyton camp have been returned; that prepaid telegrams sent to the camp have not had a reply; that a telephone message to the camp elicited the reply that his name was not on the list of internees, and that he probably had been sent overseas; and will he, in order 1388 to ease the sorrow of the boy's mother, have inquiries made to ascertain the whereabouts of her son?
§ Sir J. AndersonI am now informed that this boy volunteered to go to Australia, and embarked on 10th July. I am making further inquiries into the circumstances of the case and will communicate with my hon. Friend.
§ Mr. SorensenIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that this is similar to dozens of other cases, and will he look into the statement that the person volunteered to go to Australia?
§ Sir J. AndersonI have said that I am making further inquiries into this matter.
§ 43. Mr. Martinasked the Home Secretary whether, in the case of women detained under the Defence Regulations and accompanied by unweaned babies, he will give instructions that they shall not be separated from such babies in prison, or place of detention, at least until their case has been before the Advisory Committee?
§ Sir J. AndersonI am informed that this is already the practice.
§ Mr. MartinWill the right hon. Gentleman look into a case which I will send him at an early date?
§ Sir J. AndersonI shall be very glad to do so.
§ 45. Mr. Manderasked the Prime Minister what are the precise functions carried out by the committee, presided over by the Lord President of the Council, in connection with the internment of refugees and other persons?
§ Mr. AttleeThere has been no special committee on this subject, though this matter has, amongst others, been considered by a Committee of the War Cabinet presided over by my right hon. Friend the Lord President of the Council.
§ Mr. ManderDid not the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department say in the Debate the other day that these matters were decided by a Committee presided over by the Lord President of the Council, and will the right hon. Gentleman give us a little more information about that?
§ Mr. AttleeI have given the hon. Member the information. There is no special committee.
§ 58. Mr. Higgsasked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that Angelo de Michiel, late of 26, Aberdeen Road, London, N.5, is an interned active Fascist in receipt of workmen's compensation pay, in regard to whom the Public Trustee has refused to allow payment to be made by the insurance company as contra against the cost of the man's keep by the State; that, under the new Bill, the claimant will receive 46s. a week against the present 30s. a week; and will he make arrangements for these payments to defray the cost of the man's keep forthwith?
§ Sir J. AndersonUnder the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1925, weekly compensation is not capable of being assigned, charged or attached nor can any claim be set off against it.
§ Mr. HiggsIs the Minister aware that he has solved more difficult problems than this one, and does he intend that this deplorable state of affairs should continue?
§ Sir J. AndersonI cannot recognise that there is here any deplorable state of affairs. The provisions to which I have referred are statutory provisions, and my powers are limited to making changes in the law which are necessary for purposes of defence. I have no power at all in this matter.
§ 62. Mr. C. Straussasked the Home Secretary whether the nearest relatives of the Germans and Italians who went down on the "Arandora Star" have been informed?
§ Sir J. AndersonSteps have been taken to notify the names of the missing to the Swiss and Brazilian Legations and to the refugee organisations, with a view to the next-of-kin being informed. I will consider what further steps are necessary and practicable.
§ Mr. StraussIs the Minister aware that wives and mothers of many of those who went down on the "Arandora Star" do not know to this day?
§ Sir J. AndersonIf any practical suggestion is made to me for improving the arrangements to which I have referred, I shall certainly be prepared to consider it.
§ Mr. StraussShould not relatives be written to direct by some Government Department?
§ Sir J. AndersonYes, Sir, if there is a record of their identity in the possession of the Department, and that is part of the difficulty.
§ Major MilnerIs there not a complete record?