File 5655/1918 Pt 2 'Mesopotamia: Refugee Camp at Baqubah (1920 – papers)' [415r] (840/946)
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.
3^3
5
What they want is justice and the right to live.
They request:-
1# REPATRIATION. Already Great Britain has
Been and still is spending large sums of money
in keeping the refugees in the camp at Baquhah
and other places. Why then should this money not
he used to repatriate this people and mahe them
self-supporting and relieve Great Britain from such
a heavy burden? we do not want to live on charity any
longer.
2. DELIVERANCE AND RESTORATION OP CAPTIVE
ASSYRIAN WOMEN PROM THE MOSLEM HAREMS. To accomplish
this it requires as firm a demand from the Persian
Government as that made by Stratford canning in 1847
when he insisted on the return of the children
captured or stolen by the Kurds, under Bedr Khan Beg,
who perpetrated a terrible massacre of the Nestorians
in that year. This great statesman was so firm in
his demand that Turkey returned all the captives (who
had been given up as dead) from Aleppo and Smyrna.
3. RESTITUTION OR COMPENSATION FOR THE LOSS AID
DESTRUCTION OP THE PROPERTY OP THE CHRISTIANS.
Trie Moslems of urumia have tried to eradicate the land
marks and even traces of personal property of the
Christians, knowing that the titles are lost, so
that they may confiscate the vineyards and orchards
etc. Unless some really stringent arrangement is made
a great deal of property will he lost.
4. A THGKOUGH INVESTIGATION OP THE GRIIvjES PERPETUA
TED, to establish responsibility and mete out punish-
ment to the criminals.
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)' [415r] (840/946), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/774, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100184391545.0x00008d> [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
- 409r:417v
- Author
- Yonan, J M
- Usage terms
- The copyright status is unknown. Please contact [email protected] with any information you have regarding this item.
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