HC Deb 06 April 1938 vol 334 cc333-4
34. Mr. Graham White

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he, is in a position to give the House any further information with regard to the numbers and condition of Abyssinian refugees in Kenya?

Mr. Ormsby-Gore

According to information supplied last November, the number of these refugees in Kenya is 6,181. I have no very recent report on their condition, but, in a report prepared at the end of October last by the Medical Officer in charge of the camp, it was stated that, as a result of the measures taken by the authorities in Kenya, a great improvement had taken place in the health of the refugees, especially of the children.

Mr. Edmund Harvey

Will the right hon. Gentleman call for a more recent report, in view of the recent bad condition prevailing among the refugees?

Mr. Ormsby-Gore

The report is a very full one, with photographs and all the rest. If the hon. Member would like to see it, I think he would feel that every effort has been made.

Mr. White

May I assume from the right hon. Gentleman's reply that it is not impossible to come to any final decision as to the future of these people?

Captain Cazalet

Who is paying the cost of this—the Colony or the Home Government?

Mr. Ormsby-Gore

I have recently introduced a Supplementary Estimate for this very. purpose.