Report to the ... Zionist Congress and to the Council of the Jewish Agency in ... · 1935-08-01 · 8.1935 · p. Seite 449

illegal immigration opened up a wide scope for the activities of unscrupulous agents taking advantage of, and exploiting, credulous persons who, on account of desperate conditions in their native lands, were anxious to get into Palestine. The strong measures taken by the Government in detecting, sending back from the frontiers, arresting and deporting illegal entrants resulted in a heavy toll of suffering. Acting upon the instructions of the Executive the Palestine Offices continually warned would-be immigrants against resorting to the reprehensible and dangerous method of entering Palestine illegally. Altogether 772 Jews were deported from Palestine during the year 1934, the majority of whom were illegal entrants. Non-Jewish deportees for that year numbered 1,635. 23. Although the measures against tourists established in the country without authority were considerably relaxed, and those who entered the country, prior to November 2nd, 1933, were left practically undisturbed, this did not mean that the legal position of those persons was regularised. Their existence in the country has continued insecure and the inability of those of them who had left their dependents behind to bring over their families into Palestine has caused widespread hardship. The Executive has repeatedly drawn the attention of Government to the abnormal position of these persons who had become permanently absorbed in the economic life of the country and yet were not counted as legal residents. It urged the wholesale registration of these illegal residents, pleading particularly for those who had entered the country before the introduction of the new restrictive regulations of November, 1933. It based its plea on the precedent of the amnesty granted to illegal residents in connection with the population census of 1931. The Executive was given to understand that Government was not prepared to consider such registration before it was satisfied that the measures which it had taken to suppress illicit settlement had become effective and the number of tourists remaining in the country without authority had dwindled to insignificant proportions. During the last few months of the period under review the Executive was able to point to a very considerable decline in these figures; but the sudden increase of the number of illicit settlers consequent upon the second Maccabiah seems again to have deferred the prospect of registration for the travellers who had entered the country two years ago. 24. Reference has already been made to the deductions from the schedule on account of illegal immigrants and illicit settlers. An analysis of the figures will reveal that while the movement of tourists settling without authority diminished in a very marked degree, the deduction made on their account has grown very considerably. At the beginning the deduction represented only a part of Government's computation of the probable extent of illicit settlement during the schedule period in question. In November, 449 29