§ 62. Mr. BUXTONasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what is the approximate number of refugees who have crossed the Turkish frontier into Iraq since 1920; and what provision is made by the Iraq Government for those unable to support themselves?
§ Mr. AMERYThere have been two main influxes of Christian refugees into Iraq since 1920. These were occasioned first by the Turkish incursion in the autumn of 1924, as a result of which some 8,000 Assyrian Christians sought refuge in Iraq; and, secondly, by the Turkish deportations of September last, from which, approximately, 3,000 Chaldean Christians escaped into Iraq. I am informed that the Iraq Government have provided about £26,000 for the relief of these refugees, exclusive of amounts expended upon the free distribution of seed grain.