COPY FOR REGISTRATION
58
56
Telegram from the Governor of Hong Kong to the Secretary of
State for the Colonies.
Dated 21st. November, 1938, Received 7.11 a.m. 21st. November
21 NOV58
Important.
No.329.
Addressed to Tokyo No.96 repeated to Canton No.40
Shanghai No.201 Secretary of State for the Colonies. No.329.
This Colony's capacity for accommodating refugees from the
Kwangtung Province is now exhausted. Refugees are coming
in rapidly increasing numbers. A highly responsible local
unofficial body known as the Emergency Refugees Council is
setting up 4 refugee camps at Kwaichung, Shamohung Railway
Station and Namtau respectively N. E.N, and N.W. of the
Colony's border. Can you obtain the Japanese Government's
early concurrence with these steps? Boundary camps will be
marked out by the European personnel and will be restricted
to reasonable sizes. Chinese fighting men will be excluded,
Shamchun Railway Station area is actually
contiguous to British territory. It contains some very
large empty buildings formerly hotels and gambling houses
which would shelter several thousand persons,
Japanese
Military Authorities shortly after landing et Blas Bay
refused to agree to this area being earmarked as demilitarize
zone on the grounds that it lays within one kilometre of the
railway but as the railway is not likely to be in use for
some time this objection seems pointless.
Refugee situation is now becoming extremely
embarrassing to this government. This presumably the
Japanese Government is desirous of avoiding.