REFUGEES TREND TO BRITISH ZONE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 89, Issue 301, 21 December 1945, Page 5

REFUGEES TREND TO BRITISH ZONE

MOVEMENT IN GERMANY OUT OF RUSSIAN AREA AND ONCE GERMAN POLAND /Special Corropondent—N.Z.P.A.) Reed- 7.45 p.m. London, Dec. 20. The flow of refugees into the British | zone from the Russian zone and from the former German territory now incorporated in Poland, continues at a fairly steady rate of from 10,000 to 12,000 daily of known persons, reports “The Times” special correspondent. In addition, there certainly are a considerable number who smuggle themselves illicitly over the frontier, but there has been no recent increase in average numbers so far as is known, but reports to that effect are declared to be incorrect by officers of the control section dealing with refugees and displaced persons. Theoretically, all these refugees are coming into the British zone under “a head for head” scheme, and their place—at least in the Russian zoneshould be taken by an equal number of Germans from the British area, but in point of fact, this is not happening. and only about 3000 leave daily from the British area to the Russian. This latter channel has been blocked lately by a decision to accelerate the Gisbandment of the former Wehrmacht personnel, many of whom now are being returned to their homes in the Russian zone, thus taking the places of civilian refugees on trains. Refugees do not pay much attention to orders to proved to given reception areas, but endeavour, mostly with success. to drop off trains unnoticed and make their way back to their homes, which were generally in the Ruhr or Hamburg, and are precisely places where it it is not desired now to increase the number of mouths to feed. One satisfactory feature of the whole refugee question is that British officers on the spot declare that they are able to work together with their Russian opnosite numbers on a satisfactory basis.