TNA ADM 199 792

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VERY SECRET
928
WAR REFUGEES
6
While nothing in this memorandum should be taken as indicating that
H.M. Government has any special reason to suppose that the possibilities
with which it deals are imminent, considerations of humanity and prudence
have led the Departments concerned to consider what steps would have to
be taken to deal with an influx of refugees from Belgium or Holland in
the event of a German invasion of those countries.
During the last war nearly 250,000 Belgian refugees were accommodated
here without insuperable difficulty, but it is estimated that at least
500,000 might be expected to escape on this occasion. ,In addition to this
great increase in numbers, the problem of accommodation has been very
greatly complicated by the danger of large scale air raids and the
necessities of existing evacuation schemes.
The French Government has indicated that although it would be prepared
to do all in its power to assist in the evacuation of refugees from Belgium,
it could not undertake to retain any substantial number owing to the grave
problems arising from the evacuation of the population of Northern France
and the presence in that country of the British Expeditionary Force as well
as the French Army.
For obvious reasons, any appeal to the public is impossible at present
but energetic steps are being taken to prepare emergency schemes for
accommodation in public buildings etc., in neutral areas. The resources of
reception areas are already fully taxed and it would be undesirable to send
large numbers of refugees - especially women and children - to evacuation
areas, where they might be expected to be subjected to severe air raids.
It is doubted, however, whether this course can be avoided if the total
should prove to be as large as is now feared.
H.M. Government is therefore anxious to explore all the possibilities
of accommodation outside Great Britain and semi-official approaches have
already been made to the Channel Islands, Isle of Man, and Northern Ireland.
The advantages to the unfortunate people concerned of being placed in an
area free from enemy attack will at once be apparent.
The purpose of this note is to bring the problem to the notice of
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