§ Mr. Lawasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that Czech refugees, at present in a displaced persons' camp in Germany, have been informed that they can proceed to England without passports, visas or guarantees for employment; whether any special arrangements are being made to enable those refugees who escaped from Czechoslovakia to enter this country; and what conditions are laid down.
§ Mr. EdeI have no knowledge of any such statement as that to which reference is made in the first part of the Question. Czech nationals require visas before they can travel to the United Kingdom, but the grant of a visa is not necessarily dependent on the possession of a national passport or a guarantee of employment. Immigration into this country must he carefully controlled, and I could not justify the admission of all such persons as claim to be refugees from Czechoslovakia but—apart from any arrangement that may be made to recruit Czechs under the European Volunteer Workers' Scheme—sympathetic consideration is given to applications from those who have special claims to come to this country, including men who served during the War in His Majesty's Forces, Czechs with near relatives resident in this country, and Czechs who were admitted to this country as refugees before the war, lived here for substantial periods, and subsequently returned to Czechoslovakia.