§ 77. Mr. Sorensenasked the Secretary of State for War how many German prisoners of war have been repatriated from Egypt and Palestine during the last three months; how many more are to be repatriated during the next three months; and when it is expected that no more German prisoners will be in those areas.
§ Mr. ShinwellI regret that separate figures for Egypt and Palestine are not readily available; the numbers of German prisoners of war repatriated from all parts of the Middle East during the last 1785 three months were given in reply to a Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich (Mr. Stokes) on 4th November. It is expected that about 3,750 prisoners of war will be repatriated from the Middle East during the next three months, and that repatriation of German prisoners of war from the Middle East will have been completed by the end of next year.
§ Mr. SorensenIs it possible to contemplate a rather quicker rate of repatriation than that, seeing that the residence of these persons in the Far East is detrimental to their health? Many of them have been out there for a long time.
§ Mr. ShinwellWe are fully conscious of the facts, and we are anxious to get these men repatriated as speedily as possible, but there are transport difficulties.