840.48 Refugees/3796a: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Consul General at Algiers (Wiley)64
898. For Murphy. British Embassy has presented to the Department a note65 stating that a total of 700 refugees consisting of 300 Poles proceeding from Spain via Portugal and 400 British and so-called French and Polish Canadians proceeding direct from Spain are expected momentarily in Gibraltar and that an additional 370 “Canadians” of mixed nationalities and nearly 300 Poles will be free to leave Madrid or Miranda as soon as transport can be arranged. The Governor of Gibraltar reports that there will be no further shipping from Gibraltar to the UK for about a month and that in view of limited accommodation on the Rock it is doubtful whether even the first contingent of “Canadians” referred to above can be received there. These persons are all intended for service in the armed forces operating with the British. The British point out the importance of not interrupting the flow of refugees through Spain and urge that those above mentioned, in view of the shortage of shipping from the Iberian Peninsula to the UK, be permitted to come to North Africa in transit to the UK. The total number they believe would not exceed 500 at any one time.
The Department is inclined to recommend concurrence in this proposal provided that representatives of the British Government in North Africa assume full responsibility for these refugees during their stay there and providing they have identification and travel documents of a character which will ensure their admission into the UK. The War Department is agreeable subject to the above conditions. Department also feels that they should not be given precedence over other refugees intended to help the military effort and suggests the possibility that they might be evacuated in smaller groups along with larger groups of the other refugees. However, practical considerations [Page 301] would govern this if approval is given to the policy involved. Unless you perceive objection thereto please take this matter up with General Eisenhower and the French authorities and endeavor to obtain their approval.
Repeated to Madrid, Lisbon and London.