The more than 800 viealess Jewish immigrants detained aboard the deportation vessel Ocean Vigor sailed for Cyprus this afternoon shortly after the Palestine High Court rejected a haream corpus plea to prevent their deportation. The immigrants had been captured aboard the blockade runner Chaim Arlosorof which was intercepted in Palestine waters last week.
Ruling against the Jerusalem Jewish Community which initiated the action, the court said that no illegality was involved in detaining the visaless Jews on the high seas, although it admitted that conditions aboard the deportation vessels might be “harsh.” The court also found that it was not illegal for the government to deport the refugees. It upheld the High Commissioner’s right to decide that the presence of the passengers in Palestine was a danger to the peace, even if he did not check their individual records.
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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.