The Mexican Government has officially announced its intention to establish a “free port” for Jewish refugees along the same lines as the United States, provided that the refugees will maintain themselves, or will be maintained by relief organizations.
The exact location of the proposed haven was not indicated in the announcement. The refugees will have to be mostly women and children and must return to their native lands “once the war circumstances or the persecution by totalitarian regimes has ceased.” The full text of the official announcement reads:
“The hospitality of our country toward persons of other nationalities who, suffering from political persecution in their homeland, take refuge among us, is traditional. Therefore, following this tradition, the Mexican government will provide facilities for the establishment of a colony of political refugees of Israelite origin. The colony will be established in a zone to be determined, and will last only while a state of war continues which prevents the refugees from living in their place of residence, to which they will have to return once the war circumstances or persecution by totalitarian regimes has ceased.
“It is understood that the group to be formed will be made up in a large part by persecuted women and children. They themselves, or relief organizations, will provide their maintenance, not the government of Mexico, which will only grant them for a certain period the possibility of living under protection guaranteed by our laws.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
