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File 5655/1918 Pt 2 'Mesopotamia: Refugee Camp at Baqubah (1920 – papers)' [273r] (554/946)
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.
reported His conference Doth, with the British foreign 0 if ice
and Mr. Heazel and, I believe, Mr. Brown. He was not able
to learn, however, of any definite plan for the return of the
Assyrians and their protection in their old homes•
I read your account of Surma Khanum* s helpful influence
to the leaders of the Assyrian communities here, and to our
American missionaries who are at home from Persia, and I have
tried on the basis of your letter to reassure the representa
tives of the Urumia Assyrians who fear lest their just rights
and interests might not be equitably conceived. Dr .Packard
who saw Surma Khanum in London writes:
w Surma Khanum, no doubt, haSi had a helpful influence, wh
which should be recognised, but she has become.so nopeless
about the future of Persian Christians as to give up almost-
entirely any efforts in their behalf * and wo. accept as an
inevitable fate their expatriatiodfrom the vineyards, homes
aaid fields of their forefathers irf Urania, and tneir
colonization in Mesopotamia”.
The Persian Assyrians who are in America and our American
missionaries are still strongly convinced that tae Assyrian
Christians should be allowed to return to their homes in
Persia, and that it is neither necessary nor just that they
or
should be settled in the Turkish mountains/in Mesopotamia,
away from their ancestral inheritance and all their property
rights. Their earnest contention is
1. That the official representatives of the Allies,
especially the British agent in Tiflis, Captain Cracey,
gave them assurances of their protection in their old f
homes if they would throw themselves in on tne side of the
Allies in the hour of greatest need when the eastward movement
of the Turks had to be stopped at any cost. Armed and
financed by the Allies, and for the sake of their own self-
preservation also, the Assyrians responded to this appeal*
Whatsoever validity attaches to responsible agreements the
Assyrians feel attached to the assurances which were given to
them.
2. They hold that their claim for return to their homes
is an indisputably righteous claim, that they ought not to be
di spossessed
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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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
- 272r:276v
- Author
- Speer, Robert Elliott
- Copyright
- ©Presbyterian Church (USA), a Corporation
- Usage terms
- Creative Commons Non-Commercial Licence