§ Mr. T. P. O'CONNOR (by Private Notice)asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies if the report of General Laidoner with reference to the massacre and deportation of Nestorian Christians in and around Mosul will be published as a White Paper before the Debate on Iraq this week; and if there can be embodied in the same White Paper the Official Reports from our own representatives, and also a full Report with regard to the later massacres and 951 deportations of Chaldeans, as set forth in the letter of Sir Henry Dobbs, Commissioner for Iraq?
§ Mr. ORMSBY-GOREI only received notice of the hon. Member's question at half-past one, when I made inquiries in the Department. It appears that General Laidoner's Report was only present at Geneva last Friday, and has not yet readied the Department. I am afraid that even if it does reach the Department to-night there will not be time to have it printed in the form of a White Paper by Thursday.
§ Lieut. - Commander KENWORTHYHow is it that this Report appeared in Press several days ago and yet the Colonial Office have not got it?
§ Mr. ORMSBY-GOREThe Report was made not to the British Government but to the Council of the League of Nations, and handed to them at Geneva last Friday. It will, no doubt, be sent on by the Secretariat of the League of Nations in due course, but official procedure is sometimes a little slower than Press telegrams.
§ Mr. CLYNESIn view of the great human issues raised in the question, will my hon. Friend endeavour to do his best to get. this White Paper in time for the Debate on Thursday?
§ Mr. ORMSBY-GOREI will certainly make inquiries. I believe it is the intention of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, if possible, to return from Geneva for the purposes of the Debate, and he, no doubt, will have all the latest information which he has received at Geneva regarding the occurrences which have taken place. I cannot say more.
§ Lieut. - Commander KENWORTHYWith regard to these occurrences, can the hon. Member state whether his right hon. Friend at Geneva, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, is in fact negotiating direct with the Turkish Delegates; and, if so, will questions of the safety of the remaining Christians be one of the subjects under discussion?
§ Mr. ORMSBY-GOREI am afraid that question does not arise out of the original question, and I must ask my hon. and gallant Friend to put it down.
§ Mr. O'CONNORAs the information contained in this report is of vital importance, especially in view of the fact that the latest massacres and deportations took place in September of this year, just at the very moment when Mosul was under discussion, and that these massacres and deportations were strenuously denied by the Turks, may I put it to the hon. Gentleman that by telegram or otherwise we should be in possession of this report before we discuss the future of Iraq?
§ Mr. ORMSBY-GOREWhat I will endeavour to do is, if it is being printed, as I believe it is, at Geneva, to obtain copies of the Geneva prints (which think will be in the French and English languages), even if we cannot reprint it here. I will make inquiries with that object at once. I do not think I can say more. The pressure on the printing stall of the Government is considerable, and I fancy that the report of General Laidoner is rather a full report.
§ Mr. THURTLEIs the hon. Gentleman quite satisfied that these reports about massacres in Iraq have not been coloured for propaganda purposes by these concerned?
§ Mr. ORMSBY-GOREYes, Sir; I am quite satisfied that the official representative of the League, sent out under the auspices of the. League, cannot and ought not to be accused in that way.