Report to the ... Zionist Congress and to the Council of the Jewish Agency in ... · 1935-08-01 · 8.1935 · p. Seite 282

But the Government is using the method to put an end to " illegal "" tourists, and about 7,000 certificates have been subtracted on this account in the past two years. There is, however, an improvement with regard to the number of certificates granted for women. Here the Government has acceded to our demands. The number of certificates granted for women in April, 1934, was 450, in October, 1934, 1,950, and in April, 1935, 1,865. With regard to the age of applicants, which was fixed at no more than thirty-five, the Government agreed to extend this to forty-five years for skilled workers, and in certain special cases certificates are granted without age limit. Even when the certificates are put at the disposal of the Agency there is a tendency on the part of the Government to interfere by making demands based on unjustified procedure and by imposing difficulties in the choosing of immigrants, viz.— (a) Interference with the internal distribution of the Certificates by the Agency, the splitting up of the schedule into subdivisions : occupation, family relationship, refugees, etc. (b) The inclusion of immigrants who fall under the category of Relatives (fiancées, daughters, etc.) among " Manual Workers," when they rightly belong to Category D of the Immigration Ordinance. It may be mentioned that an investigation into the subsequent history of relatives subjected to this procedure has shown that no more than 50 per cent, of them enter the labour market, most of them settling down in other ways. The girls get married and do not have to depend on work for their living. (c) In addition to fixing the number of certificates according to sex and category, the Government has now added another restriction. It fixes the number of certificates for bachelors (about 30 per cent.) and for spinsters (about 30 per cent.) separately, and for married men (about 40 per cent.) separately. This was done to prevent marriages being entered into in order to obtain a visa for Palestine, since all warnings in this respect had been disregarded. (d) Skilled workers in industry are required to produce documents as to their qualifications, showing that they have been engaged for eight years in their work; in exceptional cases this is reduced to four. Farmers have to give proof of three years' experience. These requirements are difficult to fulfil for Jews from countries where they are excluded from the trades guilds or who have suffered expulsion (from Poland, France, etc.). The Agency has taken up with the Government the question of removing those obstacles from the distribution of certificates, obstacles which affect the position of labour in this country and which greatly hinder our work in organising immigration. 2. The difference of opinion between the Government and the Jewish Agency as to the form which immigration should take : 282