§ Commander Nobleasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty what reports he has received of the revival of slave traffic in the Red Sea and elsewhere.
§ Mr. MayhewI have been asked to reply. The Saudi Arabian Government recently informed His Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires at Jedda that eight natives of Eritrea had entered Saudi Arabia illegally in April, 1947, or thereabouts and asked him to arrange their repatriation. All eight stated that they had been persuaded to travel to Saudi Arabia by dhow owners with a promise of highly paid work in that country. On arrival they were, according to their own statements, sold as slaves and taken to Mecca, where in due course the transaction became known to the Saudi Arabian Government who liberated them. Reports that a certain number of other natives of Eritrea may have been kidnapped in similar circumstances are being fully investigated.