HC Deb 27 April 1939 vol 346 cc1327-8W
Colonel Wedgwood

asked the Home Secretary whether he will order the issue of visas to Oswald and Maria Altmann, applied for as domestics by Mrs. Arundel, of Frinton-on-Sea, on 17th March, in view of the fact that nothing further has been heard of the application, that they have been strongly recommended by the Society of Friends in Vienna, that they are transmigrants, that they are under orders to leave Germany, and that they are personally known to the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Colonel Wedgwood)?

Mr. Peake

My right hon. Friend has inquired about this case. The Domestic Bureau of the Central Office for Refugees is at present dealing with a number of applications in respect of married couples for domestic service and, as far as possible, gives precedence to those in which there is a special degree of urgency. The bureau had not felt able to give priority to this case. It has now, however, recommended it to the Home Office, and it should be possible to authorise the grant of a visa within the next day or two.

Colonel Wedgwood

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the clause in the White Paper concerning the provision of £200 for individual Czechoslovak refugees still applies to those who were given certificates in Prague by the British liaison officer; and whether the issue of such certificates to those who have escaped and are going on to the British Dominions is still possible?

Sir J. Simon

As I have already informed the House, it is the intention of His Majesty's Government that the unexpended balance of the amount which was to be granted as a gift to the former Czecho-Slovak Government should continue to be available for the purposes for which it was intended, as set forth in the White Paper (Command Paper 5933). If the right hon. and gallant Gentleman will refer to Annexe III 1 and 2 (a) of the letter from Dr. Pospisil printed on page 13 of the White Paper, he will see that the arrangements do not require that any certificates of the kind referred to should be given by the British Liaison Officer.