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File 5655/1918 Pt 2 'Mesopotamia: Refugee Camp at Baqubah (1920 – papers)' [263r] (534/946)
The record is made up of 1 volume (464 folios). It was created in 27 Dec 1919-30 Dec 1920. It was written in English and French. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
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CABINET,
HEIiTJGEE CAlvlP AT BAQUBAH IN MESOPOTAMIA.
Memorandum by the Chancellor of the Exchequer#
(D I wish to draw the attention of the Cabinet
again to this question which was raised in my
memorandum of 11th November last (0.P.102),
f As stated therein this camp was formed, in
August 1918 and contained at the time of my
memo, nearly 50,000 refugees of whom 30,000 were
Christian Assyrians from Kurdistan and the
remainder Armenians from other parts of the
Ottoman Empire. The cost was at that time
estimated at £6 S 500 per day or no less than
£2,372,500 per annum.
(3) This expenditure had been provisionally met
from Army funds but a decision as to the ultimate
incidence of charge had not been reached. I
suggested that the Eoreign Office should be made
responsible and that the Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs be requested in consultation with
the Secretary of State for India and the Army
Council, to devote his immediate attention to the
problem of securing effective economies,
(a) by repatriation, or
(b) by local settlement, of the refugees,
combined with
(c) reduction of current expenditure on
maintenance, closer supervision of
rations, etc., and by putting all
who are physically fit to some use
ful f >nn .of work.
I also suggested that Armenian refugees from
Cilicia etc., should either be repatriated or their
cost reclaimed from the French Government.
About this item
- Content
This volume contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, telegrams and minutes. It mainly covers conversations between British and French officials regarding the Christian (mostly Assyrian and Armenian) refugees in the refugee camp at Baqubah [also written Ba’qubah, Ba’quba and Baquba] in Mesopotamia [approximately corresponding to present-day Iraq], and their possible repatriation.
Related matters of discussion include the following: the health of the refugees; background; labour capacity; expenses and payments of the refugee camp; administration of the camp and its economic challenges; transportation for repatriation. Included in the correspondence are letters from Surma Khanin D’Mar Shimun describing the situation of the camp and asking for changes to the camp, and for the return of the Assyrians and Armenians. In addition, there are some inquiries received by British officials from Christian Assyrians. Also mentioned are the following: the ‘Christian Army of Revenge’, French propaganda among the Assyrians, Assyrio-Chaldean [Assyro-Chaldeans] refugees in Russia, and the American Mission.
In addition, the volume includes the following:
- Details of the numbers of Armenian refugees in the camp at Baqubah on 7 December 1919 (f 462)
- Memoranda on the Armenian refugees present in the camp 1919 (ff 436-459)
- Notes on the Assyrian refugees in the camp, dated July 1920 (ff 199-210)
- List of the number of Armenians in the camp (ff 104-105)
- A memorandum on the Assyrian and Armenian refugees in Mesopotamia (ff 95-97)
- A map showing a ‘Proposed Nestorian Enclave’ (f 466).
The principal correspondents are: Civil Commissioner, Baghdad; British High Commission, Constantinople [Istanbul]; British Embassy in Washington; British Consulate, Tabriz; War Office; Lord Curzon, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, British Delegation, Paris; officials at the refugee camp at Baqubah; French Embassy, London; Board of Foreign Mission of the Presbyterian Church in the United States; the Mar Shimun family.
The volume includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (464 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume’s contents are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.
The subject 5655 (Mesopotamia) consists of 3 volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/773-775. The volumes are divided into 4 parts, with part 1 comprising the first volume, part 2 comprising the second volume, and parts 3-4 comprising the third volume.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 468; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 197-462; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
- Written in
- English and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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File 5655/1918 Pt 2 'Mesopotamia: Refugee Camp at Baqubah (1920 – papers)' [263r] (534/946), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/774, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100184391541.0x000006> [accessed 6 June 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/774
- Title
- File 5655/1918 Pt 2 'Mesopotamia: Refugee Camp at Baqubah (1920 – papers)'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:6v, 9r:19v, 24r:35v, 36ar, 36r:70v, 72r:78v, 80r:88v, 90r:122v, 123ar, 123r:133v, 136r:153v, 154ar, 155r:158v, 160r:177v, 181r:183v, 185r:187v, 192r:192v, 194r:197v, 199r:203v, 204ar, 204r:231v, 234r:242v, 244r:271v, 277r:278v, 279ar, 279r:282v, 284r:293v, 294ar, 294r:310v, 312r:332v, 334r:349v, 353r:364v, 367r:383v, 389r:389v, 391r:397v, 399r:408v, 418r:465v, 467r:467v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence