HC Deb 14 April 1937 vol 322 cc992-4
31. Mr. Ammon

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether any steps are being taken to bring the recruiting of labourers in British Dependencies in Africa into line with the provision of the International Labour Office Recruiting Convention of 1936, especially as regards the payment by the employer of the expenses of the worker's journey to and from the place of his employment and the protection of the workers on this journey?

Mr. Ormsby-Gore

I am still in communication with the Governments of the Colonial Dependencies on this matter. I am hoping that it will be found possible for the Convention to be applied without modification to all the Dependencies for which I am responsible.

32. Mr. Leslie

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has instituted any inquiries into the question of contract labour in connection with indigenous workers in mines and other industries in preparation for the International Labour Conference of 1938?

Mr. Ormsby-Gore

The Governments of the Colonial Dependencies are already in possession of the recommendations of the Committee of Experts on Native Labour of the International Labour Office on this question, and I intend to communicate with them again as soon as the report on the subject, which is now being prepared by the International Labour Office for consideration at the International Labour Conference in 1938, is available.

36. Mr. Creech Jones

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, whether the provisional agreement between the Governments of Nyasaland and Northern and Southern Rhodesia would preclude any possibility of recruiting natives in any of those territories for work in the Union of South Africa; and whether he will take steps to secure that it shall be open to natives of Nyasaland, if they desire it, to be recruited for work in the Union, where wages are higher?

Mr. Ormsby-Gore

The agreement does not preclude recruitment of natives for work in the Union, but it provides that any proposal for such recruitment shall form the subject of prior consultation between the Governments of Southern and Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Hitherto, organised recruitment of Nyasaland natives for work outside Nyasaland has been prohibited, but the question whether it is desirable to permit such recruitment on a limited scale for the Rand is receiving careful consideration, and a small experimental recruitment has been sanctioned.