The armed guards and barbed wire which have surrounded the Poppendorf and Am Stau camps where the 4,400 Exodus refugees are housed may be removed this week-end, it was learned today.
If this is done, it will represent a victory for military government officials over British intelligence. The occupation officials have been arguing that if the guards and barbed wire are removed, the refugees will be forced to disperse, since they will no longer have the excuse that they are forcibly confined in the camps. Intelligence officers insist that there are terrorists among the deportees and that nobody should be allowed to leave until all have been screened.
Relations between the elected Am Stau camp committee and the British authorities were broken off today by the committee, after the British refused to heed the committee’s recommendations for more supplies, including soap, vegetables for children and the ill and stoves.
Robert Gary, JTA correspondent here, is still barred from the camps, but the British-imposed ban will automatically be invalidated if the guards are removed.
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