A specially-chartered hospital ship will depart within a few days from Tiontsin carrying the last group of Israel-bound Jewish immigrants from Harbin, Shanghai and Tiontsin. The group will consist of about 700 old, sick and disabled Jews.
With the departure of this ship, the program of emigration of Jewish refugees in the Far East, carried on by the Joint Distribution Committee jointly with the International Refugee Organization, will come to an end. Jewish groups in Harbin, Shanghai and Tientsin have been actively engaged in preparing the “hard-core” refugees from shelters and homes for the aged in their journey to Israel.
The Shanghai “Shelter House” has been in existonce since the beginning of the century and the House for the Aged in Harbin is of even older origin.
The J.D.C. ship will proceed to Israel via the Suez Canal. Hong Kong will be emitted as a port of call. A number of Jewish families from Hong Kong, who intend to leave for Israel, have been authorized to board the vessel in Tiontsin upon payment of full fares.
Under these circumstances, a direct airline route between Hong Kong and Lyida Airport is considered preferable. Jewish residents of Hong Kong, regardless of their nationality, are not considered eligible for transportation facilities offered to displaced persons under the J.D.C.-I.R.O. program.
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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.
