§ Mr. Bartlettasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that the tragic plight of some 2,000 Jewish refugees now marooned in small barges on the Danube is due mainly to the fact that shipowners are threatened with confiscation of their ships and imprisonment of their crews if captured near the Palestine shore; and will he consider raising the ban on further immigrants to Palestine to cover these victims of Nazi racial doctrines?
Mr. M. MacDonaldI understand that reports have reached the Foreign Office that a number of Jews who were on their way to embark at a Rumanian port on a ship chartered for the purpose of carrying illegal immigrants to Palestine were recently stranded on the Danube. It is well known that masters and crews of ships engaged in this illegal traffic are liable to imprisonment and the ships to confiscation.
The Government have made provision for Palestine making a considerable contribution towards the solution of the Jewish refugee problem, by means of quotas for legal immigrants. The quota for the first six months of the present immigration year amounted to more than 10,000 persons, and a similar quota for the current six months was only suspended on account of the volume of illegal immigration taking place. The normal 237W objections to illegal immigration are increased in time of war owing to the danger of enemy agents travelling to Palestine by this means. In the circumstances I cannot adopt the hon. Member's suggestion.