CO129-563-12 Sino-Japanese War- evacuation of refugees from China 15-8-1937 - 4-1-1938 — Page 13

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they might be open to criticism if it became

refugees

known that some of the had offered to make a

reasonable offer to repay the cost of their

passages home.

The F.O., however, took the line that

their previous experience showed that it was

very difficult to get back money advanced

for passages in these circumstances, and they

would much sooner wait and see for a week or

Comidering

two what happened before starting any scheme

of the kind proposed. They pointed out that

the telegrams did not suggest that a large

number of cases were involved.

As it is the F.O. who will have to defend

in conne chiar with

any vote for maintaining these refugees, it

seemed desirable to put their view to the

Governor, and I annex a draft in which the

Foreign Office and Treasury have concurred, and

Mr. Bigg has also seen.

I should perhaps add that I drew Mr. Wardley's

attention to the point that the F.0. would not

normally consider repatriating destitute British

subjects from a Colony, and that as these

refugees came from Shanghai presumably they

would be treated as refugees from abroad. He

told me that they had raised no objection to meeting expenditor

British subjects in Spain who had been repatriated

by way of Gibraltar.

A Bri

8.9. 37.