§ 29. Mr. Edmund Harveyasked the Home Secretary whether he has now been able to revise the present restrictions as to visas for entry into this country in favour of Jewish refugees whose lives are in danger in existing conditions in Europe?
32. Miss Rathboneasked the Home Secretary whether the Regulations governing the issue of visas for the United Kingdom still forbid the issue of any visa to any alien while still in enemy-occupied country and to any adult alien, even if outside enemy-occupied territory, unless-his Department is satisfied that the alien is needed in this country for the war effort of ourselves or our Allies, and that his financial maintenance is guaranteed in the case of his failure to become self-supporting?
§ Mr. H. MorrisonThe hon. Lady is under a misapprehension as to the considerations which govern the grant of visas to enable aliens to come to this country, as I have endeavoured to explain in a letter which will have reached her since she put down this Question. It is not possible to issue a visa for a journey to this country to a person who is still in enemy or enemy-controlled territory, nor is there any reason to think that escape from such territory can, in present circumstances, be assisted by authorising the grant of a visa in anticipation of escape. In deciding whether aliens who have escaped into neutral territory should be allowed to come here, the general practice—owing to the shortage of transport facilities to and of accommodation in this country—is to give priority to those wishing to join one of the Allied Forces or otherwise to assist actively in the Allied war effort, whose applications for visas have been vouched for by their national representatives in the country where they are. I am not aware that visas to come here are refused to refugees merely because their financial maintenance has not been guaranteed.
§ Mr. HarveyWould my right hon. Friend answer the first Question—it has not been answered—which is in my name?
§ Mr. MorrisonI have stated the policy of the Department, and, in so far as we have definite knowledge of this question, that policy must stand for the time being.
Miss RathboneDoes the right hon. Gentleman admit that the summary in my Question of the existing practice is perfectly accurate according to his own letter to me, except that wives as well as children of refugees already in this country are admitted; and, in view of the strong desire in this country for a really generous policy, are the Government really going to bolt and bar the door against any relaxation of this cruelly restrictive Regulation?
§ Mr. MorrisonI have answered the hon. Lady, and on the wider point, my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has already made a statement as to the general policy of the Government, but the House will appreciate the fact that we cannot take action which may impede the successful prosecution of the war. The vital thing is that we must win the war and then deal with these people.
§ Mr. SilvermanWill the right hon. Gentleman explain how a refugee from Germany in a neutral country who desires to join our Fighting Forces can obtain from the national representative of his country in that neutral country visas satisfactory to my right hon. Friend?
§ Mr. MorrisonHe cannot, I agree, in the case of a person from Germany, but there are channels through which he can make communication.
§ Mr. SilvermanBut my right hon. Friend said in his original answer that such a certificate from the national representative of the country from which the refugee had escaped was a condition precedent to the issue of a visa by my right hon. Friend to come here. He has now admitted that the condition is impossible to obtain, and does not that make nonsense of his answer?
§ Mr. MorrisonThe answer is perfectly clear, if my hon. Friend will only listen to it. The answer is:
The policy is to give priority to those wishing to join one of the Allied Forces or otherwise to assist actively in the war effort whose applications for visas have been vouched for by their national representatives in the country where they are.
§ Mr. SilvermanThat cannot be done.
§ Mr. MorrisonThat clearly postulates that the alien concerned comes from one of the neutral countries.
§ Mr. SorensenMay we take it, therefore, that, if a refugee escapes from an enemy country and applies to the British Consul-General and indicates that he wishes to join the Forces in this country, a visa will then be granted to him?
§ Mr. MorrisonNo, Sir; it would then be considered.
§ Mr. LipsonCan my right hon. Friend say whether a visa would be given to the parents of a man who has already served in the Forces?
§ Mr. MorrisonThat question had better be put down.
Miss RathboneThe right hon. Gentleman has not answered the first Supplementary Question. Does he deny that my summary of the existing practice is perfectly accurate except that wives as well as children are sometimes included, and is this really the final decision on the part of the Government?
§ Mr. MorrisonThis appears to be more in the nature of a Debate than a Question.
Miss RathboneIn view of the gravely unsatisfactory nature of the reply, I beg to give notice that, unless there is an early opportunity for a discussion of this matter in full Debate I shall be obliged to raise it on the Adjournment.