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File 5655/1918 Pt 2 'Mesopotamia: Refugee Camp at Baqubah (1920 – papers)' [‎123r] (252/946)

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

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1
ST-'
In any further communication
on this aubjeqb, please quote
so. ? ^,2347/88/44
and address,
>
not to any person by name,
but to—
“ The Under-Secretary of State,”
Foreign Office,
London, S.W.l.
#
< .MMilDlAl'S
r. 9
i 9 ^ o
Foreion Oepice.
S.W.l.
Octo'ber 13t3a 1920
fv.TT 5
,VV ^/ Vvv
Sir,
I am directed by Earl Curzon of Kedleston
to acknowledge the receipt of your letter ho. P 7198
of the 6th instant and to state, for the information
.
of Mr. Secretary Montagu, that His Lordship is in
agreement with the proposal that an Inter-Departmental
Conference should be held to discuss the disposal of
the Armenian refugees now concentrated at Basrah.
2* With regard to the question of the possible
return of these refugees to Erivan, raised in the
third paragraph of your letter under reply, I am to
transmit copy of telegram ho. 1088 from His Majesty’s
High Commissioner, Constantinople, from which it would
appear that the Armenian authorities might now be willing
to receive them on certain conditions.
3 # His Lordship is of opinion that the proposed
Conference should be in a position fully to consider
each of what appear to him to be the three possible
courses to pursue in respect of these Armenians, r.6*
A.
B.
C.
Repatriation to Eriyan;
Repatriation to wilicia, to
Colonisation in Mesopotamia. Bagdad
India.
s
•%
For this reason 1 am to suggest that the Conference
should not meet till the replies of the Civil
Commissioner, Baghdad, to India. Office telegrams Los.
2308 and 2247, as well as the further communication
referred
. . ■ v ' ■ ' /C\
;A
The Under Secretary of State,
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. .
14 OCT 1920

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
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File 5655/1918 Pt 2 'Mesopotamia: Refugee Camp at Baqubah (1920 – papers)' [‎123r] (252/946), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/774, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100184391542.0x000043> [accessed 7 June 2026]

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