Letter ; Letter (copy)

              International Federation of Trade Unions
TELEPHONE:
VICtoria 9020
TRANSPORT HOUSE,
SMITH SQUARE,
LONDON. S.W.1
Your ref: EAB/DT/720 
Our ref: SCH/AK/2938
8th April, 1943.
Mr. E.A. Bell,
International Department, 
T.U.C., 
Transport House.
Dear Mr. Bell,
In reply to your communication of 6th April re the release of some 5,700 political prisoners and refugees in Algeria and Morocco, I regret to inform you that I have heard nothing to confirm this. I even doubt that the press report you refer to means to say that much. I am not sure that "Are being released" means that they "are free". The only thing we have heard of is that some of them have left the internment camps and their transfer to Great Britain is in preparation. This concerns those nationals belonging to countries the governments of which are in Great Britain; then there are undoubtedly a number of Spaniards who have accepted to serve in some capacity or other with the Allied forces in North Africa itself, such as the Pioneer Corps. But the bulk of Spanish internees and international brigaders, the greater number of whom are communists, are still interned. We understand that these people will not be released unless they go straight to another country. Some statements in the press have created the impression that the Mexican government had communicated with the authorities in North Africa (Allied or Giraud administration) that it is willing to take these Spanish internees. According to the "Times", 6th April, the Mexican Embassy in Washington stated: "that Mexico has accepted Spanish refugees from North Africa, but only under long-standing arrangements made with the former Vichy authorities. An Embassy official here emphasized that no new agreements had been made about the reception of such refugees of whom there are at present about 30,000".
P.T.O.
E.A.B.