§ 23. Colonel WEDGWOODasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he is taking any, and, if so, what steps to secure safety and justice for the Assyrians in Iraq?
§ Mr. EDENThe future of the Assyrians is at present being considered by a committee of the Council of the League of Nations. This committee was set up on 14th October last by the Council of the League of Nations, when it considered the Assyrian problem at the request both of the Assyrian Patriarch and of the Iraqi Government. The first duty of this committee, on which His Majesty's Government are represented, is to seek, in collaboration with the Iraqi Government a means of settling outside Iraq, those Assyrians who may wish to leave the country. This task is being actively proceeded with. In the meanwhile the Iraqi Government have provided additional police protection on a considerable scale in the areas where Assyrians reside. They have also taken measures, which have been entrusted to the supervision of British officers in the service of the Iraqi Government, to care for the families left destitute in consequence of the deplorable events of last summer, and to rebuild and re-stock villages wholly or partly destroyed during those events.
§ Colonel WEDGWOODWho is responsible for our scuttling out of Iraq without protecting these people, and why was I falsely informed in the House at the time that all necessary precautions were being taken to safeguard them?
§ Mr. EDENI am afraid the actions to which the right hon. and gallant Gentleman refers were taken by a previous Government.
§ Colonel WEDGWOODI know they were taken by a previous Government, but they were taken by British officials out there.