High Commissioner Sir Harold A. MacMichael yesterday issued an immigration schedule of 9,000, including 4,000 refugees, for the six months beginning April 1, but announced that it would be divided into two-month quotas to facilitate making deductions for illegal immigrants.
Present issue of immigration certificates will be restricted to 2,05o for the April 1-May 30 period, plus additional certificates for wives and children of previous immigrants.
The High Commissioner’s announcement said that during the past year “the volume of Jewish illegal immigration has been considerable.” In order to keep a current check on such immigration in the future with a view to deducting the number of illegals from the quota, it has been decided to prescribe two-month quotas, Sir Harold stated.
A quota similar to the April-May figure will be issued for June-July, less the number of illegals recorded, the statement said. A similar quota for August-September will make deductions for illegals arriving in June and July and the same process will be continued in the half year commencing in October.
In addition, certificates are provided for dependents of future immigrants in all categories.
The announcement did not refer to any deductions for past illegal immigration from the new schedule, but it is believed that the extent of this illegal entry was one of the Government’s arguments for restricting refugee immigration to 4,000 for the half year. The Government’s view is that it is necessary to limit refugee immigration since illegal entry is consuming the five-year quota of 75,000 for refugees set in the Palestine White Paper.
The allocation of only 60 labor certificates came as a keen disappointment to Jewish circles since it had been hoped the Government would be more generous in this category. Regarding rabbis, the announcement states that the chief rabbinate and Jewish communities may apply for certificates under this category.
In addition to certificates for children, Youth Aliyah and students there are only 60 certificates for wives and children of labor immigrants at the immediate disposal of the Jewish Agency, which is being flooded with appeals from all quarters. While allotting 200 certificates for parents of Palestine residents, the new schedule makes it clear that certificates will be available only if the parents were living in neutral or Allied countries before the outbreak of the war.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
