§ MR. TREVELYAN (Yorkshire, W.R., Elland)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how soon he will intimate by way of rule or otherwise to the Immigration Boards, that the proceedings of the Boards must be open to the public and the Press; and whether he is yet in a position to state precisely what other modifications of the procedure under the Aliens Act he proposes to introduce.
§ * THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. GLADSTONE,) Leeds, W.I am drafting a rule dealing with the admission of the Press to meetings of Immigration Boards, and in the meantime I have recommended the Boards to give reasonable facilities for the attendance of reporters. I understand that a voluntary committee is about to be formed with a view to supplying evidence to the Immigration Boards on behalf of political and religious refugees. If this committee consists—as I believe will be the case—of responsible and reliable persons, I shall be glad to give it whatever facilities I can for effecting its purpose. I have made an order restoring twenty as the number of aliens which will constitute a ship an 917 immigrant ship, and make her liable to inspection under the Act. I have issued a circular letter to all the Immigration Boards respecting immigrants who may claim to be seeking admission to this country on the ground that they are religious or political refugees. I quote from it the following passages:—"The Act was passed for the purpose of checking the immigration of undesirable aliens. Parliament, in the judgment of the Secretary of State, never intended that in the administration for that object of the provisions of the Act, they should be applied with a rigidity which excludes consideration whether refusal of leave to land would involve great personal hardship or suffering in the case of women and children. So, too, a man who is free from any infectious or objectionable disease may be in a critical state of health, and to refuse him leave to land might expose him to cruel hardship. Again, the statements of a man claiming to be a political or religious refugee may be insufficient or inaccurate, yet he may be exposed to serious risk from political causes if he is forced to return. Though the Secretary of State recognises that the absence of corroborative evidence frequently makes it extremely difficult for Boards to come to a decision in cases falling within the proviso to Section 1 (3) of the Act, he hopes that, having regard to the present disturbed condition of certain parts of the Continent, the benefit of the doubt, where any doubt exists, may be given in favour of any immigrants who allege that they are flying from religious or political persecution in disturbed districts, and that in such cases leave to land may be given." Next, in order to prevent the possibility of any immigrant not being made aware of his right to appeal, through ignorance of the languages spoken by the interpreters, I am having a notice printed in a large number of languages stating that provision of the Act, which will be handed to immigrants rejected by the immigration officer. Finally, I have issued to all the immigration officers instruction that in all cases in which immigrants coming from the parts of the Continent which are at present in a disturbed condition, allege that they are flying from religious or political persecution, the benefit of the doubt, where any doubt exists, as to the truth of the allegation must be allowed, and leave to land must be given.
§ SIR W. EVANS GORDON (Tower Hamlets, Stepney)Are we to understand that all immigrants coming from any disturbed part of the Continent, especially Russia, are to be admitted without question?
§ * MR. GLADSTONEI have already answered that Question.
§ SIR HOWARD VINCENTWhat disturbed places are there on the Continent at the present time?
§ * MR. GLADSTONEThe hon. and gallant Gentleman knows quite as well as I do.
§ SIR W. EVANS GORDONThis is a matter of very great and far-reaching importance; and I should like if the Secretary of State would tell us whether the provisions of Clause 3, which lays down definite categories of persons to be excluded, are to be set aside in regard to these countries that are now in a disturbed state.
§ * MR. GLADSTONEI have nothing to add to what I have said.
§ SIR W. EVANS GORDONrose again amid loud MINISTERIAL cries of "Order."
§ * MR. SPEAKEROrder, order. Notice must be given of any other Question. The hon. and gallant Member is not entitled at this time to make any statement.
§ SIR W. EVANS-GORDONI wish, Sir, to address you personally. In view of the importance of this Answer, I shall ask leave at the end of Question time to-move the adjournment of the House.
§ MR. J. R. MACDONALD (Leicester)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he can state what is the nature of proof required of immigrants under the Aliens Act to show that they are political or religious refugees.
§ * MR. GLADSTONEI have made inquiries of all the immigration boards on this point. At ten out of thirteen immigration ports no claim for the privileges of a refugee has come before the boards. In the remaining three 919 cases, Grimsby, Hull, and London, the substance of the answers was as follows:—Grimsby: The alien's word is accepted subject to cross-examination by the board, and supplemented by the board's know ledge of places where persecution, riots, etc., have taken place. Hull: The utmost latitude is exercised in accepting the alien's word. London: Latitude is exercised in the direction of accepting the alien's word. The board are guided by their general impression as to the genuineness of his story. Every case is dealt with on its own merits, but, generally speaking, any reasonable probability of the claim being genuine has sufficed to admit.
§ MR. LEIF JONES (Westmoreland, Appleby)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will inform the House on what principle, and by whom, members are chosen from the panels to sit on immigration Boards; for what period immigration boards are constituted; and whether any instructions have been issued to secure a proper rotation of members of the panels, so that every member shall serve in due course upon the immigration hoards.
§ * MR. GLADSTONEThe immigration boards are summoned by the clerk, who is required by the Rules to summon every member on the list in turn, so far as practicable, provided that, where possible, a magistrate shall always be a member of the Board.
§ MR. WEDGWOOD (Newcastle-under-Lyme)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what powers an immigration board is justified in regarding a deserter from the Russian forces as a criminal and not a refugee; and whether he will give such instructions as will prevent such an interpretation in future.
§ * MR. GLADSTONEA deserter is not a criminal within the meaning of the Aliens Act, and I am not aware that any immigration board has taken that view.
§ MR. J. R. MACDONALDI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that the immigration officer responsible for the 920 deportation of Alexander Onix has stated that, in his opinion, a deserter from the Russian Army was a criminal, and therefore not entitled to enter this country as a political refugee; whether any such instructions have been issued by the Home Office; and whether any steps have been taken to remove such impressions from the minds of immigration officers.
§ * MR. GLADSTONENo, Sir, I am not aware that any immigration officer has expressed the opinion suggested. I understand that the interpreter engaged in the case in question is reported in the newspaper Press to have expressed some such view in an interview. But the responsibility of refusing leave to land does not rest with the interpreter. It rests with the immigration officer, and all those officers are well aware that the only crimes for which an immigrant can be excluded from this country are extradition crimes—a category which does not include military desertion. It is clear that the fact that an immigrant was a deserter could not detract from any claim he might have to the privileges of a political refugee.
§ MR. STUART SAMUELI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will state the number of criminals who have been refused admission to this country since the 1st January last under the operations of the Aliens Act.
§ * Mr. GLADSTONEThe only persons who can be excluded from this country under the Aliens Act on the ground that they are criminals are those who have been sentenced in a foreign country for a crime for which they might be extradited from this country. No such persons are known to have presented themselves for admission since the beginning of the year.
§ MR. MADDISON (Burnley)asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if it were true that a young man, refused the right to land under the Aliens Act on the ground that he was consumptive, had been detained on board a ship at Milwall in a cabin eight feet by six feet since last Thursday and was to remain there till next Wednesday. If so, would the right hon. Gentleman take 921 steps to get the man released and to prevent a repetition of such a scandalous thing.
§ * MR. GLADSTONEsaid he had absolutely no power of interference under the Aliens Act. The case was decided by the immigration board, and he could not annul their decision.
§ MR. MADDISONWill the right hon. Gentleman see the shipowners on the subject?
§ * MR. GLADSTONEI am making inquiry, and if the man can be released no doubt he will be.
§ MR. LEIF JONESBy what authority is the man imprisoned in this cabin?
§ * MR. GLADSTONEUnder the Act. The captain is held responsible that he does not land.