HC Deb 18 September 1940 vol 365 c144
8. Mr. David Adams

asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, in view of the fact that compulsory service on behalf of the British war effort is enforced in Tanganyika, he will reconsider the position under which residents in Tanganyika are regarded as aliens in this country?

The Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Peake)

I have been asked to reply. Residents in Tanganyika who are not British subjects and are not aliens are British protected persons. My right hon. Friend regrets that, as he has stated in answer to previous Questions, he is not prepared to exempt British protected persons, as such, from the provisions of the Aliens Order, but special and sympathetic consideration will be given to individual cases on their merits.

Mr. Adams

Surely it is reasonable, if these British protected persons in Tanganyika are compelled to fight on behalf of the country, that they should not be treated as suggested in the Question?

Mr. Peake

I understand that the Tanganyika Ordinance imposing compulsory military service applies only to local defence, to the defence, that is to say, of Tanganyika, and British protected persons resident in Tanganyika are not obliged to undergo compulsory military service in this country.