§ 12. Mr. Manderasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the present position in Palestine and the number of refugees who have entered the country illegally during the last three months; the numbers of boats concerned; the countries from which they came; and the nationality of the immigrants?
Mr. M. MacDonaldAs regards the present position in Palestine, I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave to the hon. Member for Don Valley (Mr. T. Williams) yesterday. As the reply to the remainder of the question contains a large number of figures, I will, with the hon. Member's permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Commander Locker-LampsonWill the Government try to use some of these as recruits for service in the war?
§ Following is the remainder of the reply:
§ The number of refugees who have entered into Palestine illegally during the three months ending 30th September is 6,323. They came in eight boats of which six came from Rumania, one from Bulgaria and one from Rhodes. The following are the facts available as to their nationality:
| (a) Immigrants with passports. | |
| Czecho-Slovakian | 1,270 |
| German | 117 |
| Austrian | 2 |
| Hungarian | 1 |
| (b) Immigrants without passports but claiming nationality. | |
| German | 627 |
| Czecho-Slovakian | 330 |
| Italian (from Rhodes) | 63 |
| Austrian | 36 |
| Danzig | 23 |
| Polish | 6 |
| Hungarian | 3 |
| Russian | 2 |
| Bulgarian | 1 |
| (c) Immigrants without passports claiming to be Stateless | 3.362 |
| (d) Evaded arrest and nationality unknown | 480 |