JEWISH MIGRANTS COMPLAIN OF SHIP ON REACHING SYDNEY

Grey River Argus, 3 May 1949, Page 5

JEWISH MIGRANTS COMPLAIN OF SHIP ON REACHING SYDNEY

SYDNEY, May 1. The ship “Ville d’ Amiens”, belonging to the French Company, Messageries Maritimes, arrived on Sunday at Sydney, bringing 370 passengers, including 130 German, Austrian, Hungarian, and Polish Jews, most of whom had been interned in German concentration camps. The voyage from Marseilles occupied ten weeks. Third class passengers, who paid £l3O each, were quartered in two converted cargo holds, covered by tarpaulins in rough weather. Sunday papers in Sydney published articles concerning allegedly shocking conditions suffered by migrants aboard the vessel. It was stated that officers of the vessel twice refused to allow reporters aboard, but when this was overcome ■ passengers eagerly conducted reporters on a tour of inspection. Lavatories and washrooms had not been cleaned during the voyage, and there was no water suppl*} for third class passengers during the day. The master of the vessel, Captain Yves Pons, said that the shipping company was not responsible and that “the migrants were misled by the European Refugee Association, which arranged their passages”. The French Consul-General in Sydney, M. Henri de la Croix, also said that the condition of the ship was solelv the responsibility of the owners, • and that he would forward any complaints direct to the company. “I am quite sure that those who complained were quite well aware of the ship’s condition before she sailed”, he added. “The people who travelled aboard her had only themselves to blame. I am sure the Jewish organisations in Australia and Europe are very well aware of the conditiorfs of travel. If they send their people out under those conditions they are responsible”. Health Department officers are inspecting the ship. If she is rat-in-fested, as claimed, an order will be issued for fumigation. A senior Commonwealth medical officer, Dr C. Wyburd, said this was all the local health authorities could do. Matters of accommodation were the responsibility of the French shipping company, Messageries Maritimes, and the Jewish refugee organisation responsible for chartering the ship.