Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 1935. HOME FOR THE ASSYRIANS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 247, 1 August 1935, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 1935. HOME FOR THE ASSYRIANS.

The French Government, it is reported, has accepted the proposal of the committee.of the League of Nations Council for technical discussions to elaborate a detailed plan of settlement of Assyrians from Iraq in the Gharb area in Syria, and discussions will be commenced at Beirut early this month. This problem has been before the League for two years, following clashes, in which the Assyrian Christians and Kurdish raiders were involved, on the frontier between Syria and Iraq, attended with considerable loss of life before order was restored. Since then the Government of Iraq has been maintaining in a camp at Mosul some 1500 destitute persons, mostly women and children. Britain has an especial interest in the matter, for the trouble between the two peoples was intensified when the mandate over Iraq was relinquished. The friction then became so acute that when the League discussed the subject, the Government of Iraq expressed the view that local '■ remedy would rot prove effective, that the Assyrians could not longer live in peace with their neighbours after what had occurred, and that a solution would be acceptable which would consist in finding outside Iraq a new home for those Assyrians who desired to leave the country. Approving of this principle the League Council appointed a committee entrusted mainly with the finding of land for settlement by the Assyrians. At the beginning of last year it appeared that its task would be accomplished quickly, for the Brazilian Government informed it that it was prepared, subject to certain conditions, to accept the whole of the* Assyrians, in groups of five hundred families per month, as and when the Parana Plantations, Limited, one of the large colonisation companies owning great tracts of land in Brazib was able to provide for their settlement. Later, however, the Brazilian Government withdrew its offer, as it feared that the Assyrians would be a possible source of embarrassment in the event of civil war. The League Council subsequently had before it other suggestions, among them being the possibility of the utilisation for the purpose in view of an area in British Guiana, advanced by the British Government, and as to the opportunities for a settlement in other countries, including French West Africa. For various reasons none of the schemes proved satisfactory and now discussions are to be opened in regard to Syria. From the point of view of geographical position it woulc appear that that area promises the best solution, for the refugees would not completely be removed from conditions, similar to those to which the> are accustomed. On the other hanc it may be that the similarity of life and nearness of influences that have already operated against them may offset the advantages. The position presents to the League a problem, which, though of minor importance requires careful far-sighted consideration.