§ Colonel DAYasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the British Residency in Cairo has recently called the attention of the Egyptian Government to the sentences passed on Egyptian subjects by the Egyptian courts for assaults on European women; and the result of the representations so made?
§ Sir A. CHAMBERLAINYes, Sir. I regret to say that it has been necessary for the High Commissioner to bring this matter to the serious attention of the Egyptian Government. During 1926 there were no less than four cases of such assaults on British subjects, and recently a similar assault was perpetrated on a European lady of other nationality in peculiarly brutal circumstances. The sentences imposed by the Egyptian courts in these cases were in most instances the minimum prescribed by the law and have proved inadequate as a deterrent. The reply of the Egyptian Government to Lord Lloyd's representations, which have received the approval of His Majesty's Government, has not yet been received.