§ 65. Mr. Brockwayasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a statement on the situation in Aden arising from the strike at the girls' college, and on the reasons for intervention by the police and a display of military tanks.
§ Mr. H. FraserOn 19th February the Aden Boys' College reopened and 140 boys attended, but during the morning a large crowd of boys and girls invaded the school and disrupted the classes, and the school had to be closed. On the same day the Boys' Secondary School reopened and 167 pupils attended, but later some of them became unco-104W operative and left the school. The Aden Government regretfully decided that, like the Girls' College, these schools could not function in existing circumstances and must remain closed until further notice. Most other schools in the Colony are working normally.
On 20th February many boys and girls gathered outside the Technical College intent on preventing studies by intimidation. In spite of police warnings they continued intimidation and obstructing the police and 10 were arrested. The same morning other boys and girls caused a disturbance outside Ma'alla Police Station, breaking some windows and slightly injuring four policemen. Further arrests were made. Other gatherings of school children elsewhere in the Colony were dispersed by the police without incident. Sixteen boys and six girls have been charged, seven with rioting and 15 with disorderly conduct and, in one case, assault.
The police action was wholly justified in dealing with breaches of the peace. At no time were military forces deployed: two scout cars on routine driving instruction happened to pass in the vicinity of the Technical College at the time of the incident there.
The unruly behaviour of the schoolchildren, which is all the more regrettable because their alleged grievances are being fully investigated, has had no effect on public security in the Colony.