SYRIA'S FATE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 702, 30 November 1933, Page 5

SYRIA'S FATE

(Press Assn.-

BRITAIN NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE COUNTRY'S SAFETY HAD DONE MUCH

-By Telegraph — Copyrlght) .

London, Noy. 29. In the House of Lords, the Archhishop of Canterbury called attention to the plight of the Assyrians and said he shared the hope expressed by Sir Jorn Simon that the Council of the League of Nations would be able to make a satisfactory and enduring solution of the most perplexing and difficult problem of finding a place of settlement for the Asgyrian people. In replying, Lord Hailsham recalled that after the war, which the Assyrians entered at the instance of Russia, Britain had saved them from annihilation by k eping many thousands of them in refuge camps at considerable expense. Since that time Britain had assisted them to settle on lands which they had occupied before the war and in other suitable places. It was not possible to settle them in one homogeneous community in Europe. Lord Hailsham denied that Sir Francis Humphreys had assured the Mandates Commission at Geneva that Britain would aecept responsibility for the future safety and welfare of the Assyrians after the cessation of the mandate and the entrance of Iraq into the League. Religious Toleration Replying to a question by the Mandates' Commission as to whether Iraq had reached such a state of development that they could be relied upon to exercise religious toleration, Sir Francis Humphreys had replied that he was satislied Iraq could be so relied upon, and the responsibility for that view rested upon the British Government — not upon the Mandates' Commission. Sir Francis never gave any assur- ' ance that after Britain gave up the mandates that she would guarantee the protection of minorities in Iraq. Lord Hailsham pointed out that in the rtcent disturbances the Assyrians had attacked first and had they succeeded, a first class war would have broken out with the certainty of very serious repercussions. On the other hand the excesses of Iraq forcts after subduing the Assyrians were quite unjustifiable and merited and received the severest condemnation. The Iraq Government had under taken to make a substantial contribution towards whatever cost rnight be incurred in resettling the Assyr-_ ians. The view of the Government was that apart from the special responsibility of the Iraq Government, there rested also a very great responsibility on the League of Nations as a whole.