CO129-570-3 Sino-Japanese War- proposed refugee camp in demilitarised area of South China 1-6-1938 - 11-1-1939 — Page 56

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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.