Hias-ica Moves to Expedite Emigration of Refugees in French Camps

With the permission of the French authorities the HIAS-ICA Emigration Association today sent representatives to refugee internment camps in various parts of the country to register those holding visas for the United States and other overseas countries and arrange for their departure.

The civil and military authorities granted the emigration association permission after intervention by Baron Robert de Rothschild. The representatives are visiting all camps where German-born aliens have been held since the outbreak of the war and registering those eligible for emigration in order to facilitate their release to countries where they can find permanent residence.

The authorities have stipulated, however, that those emigrating must sail on French or British steamships so that they may be held under observation until they reach the ports of destination.

It is estimated that about 2,000 Jewish refugees holding visas or quota numbers for entry to the United States, including those given haven here when they were turned away by Cuba aboard the liner St. Louis, are held in the camps. The permission granted by the authorities is intended to expedite their departure to various countries, chiefly the United States, whose consulate here has resumed issuance of visas under the German Austrian quota.

Reports received by HIAS-ICA headquarters from its staff at work throughout the country emphasize the exceptionally warm interest which the local civil and military authorities are evincing in facilitating the emigration association’s work. The representatives are given every cooperation, in accordance with instructions from French general headquarters.

Surveying general camps, the HIAS-ICA representatives reported that the refugees they examined include (1) those holding United States visas, (2) those holding quota numbers and promised visas by the American consulate, (3) those who submitted documents, including affidavits from the United States, to the American consulate and who are awaiting visas, (4) those registered with the American consulate who have not yet received affidavits from the United States. In addition many of the interned refugees possess visas for Palestine, Australia, Bolivia, Argentina, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.

The problem which the HIAS-ICA will have to solve, together with the authorities, is how to secure American visas for those internees entitled to them who have not yet received them.

The arrangement with the Government provides that as soon as the association advises the authorities that the refugee is ready to sail he is released by the camp administration and brought to the port of embarkation under military guard. The camp commanders can release those with visas on their passports but not those whose visas are awaiting them at the American consulate in Bordeaux, to which city the consulate’s visa department has been transferred.

Accordingly, negotiations will be started by the HIAS-ICA with the American consulate to assign a special consul who would visit the camps and arrange the visa formalities for those entitled to the immigration permits.

Another problem which the HIAS-ICA will have to solve is the forwarding of the refugees’ luggage to the steamers since all left their luggage in Paris, not being able to take anything more than warm clothing to the internment centers.

A preliminary survey made by the American consulate shows that notices sent to some refugees to appear for their visas have not reached the refugees because the applicants had left their addresses for the camps. The association therefore intends to obtain from the consulate a list of undelivered notices which it will forward to the applicants through its representatives who are admitted to the camps.