Memorandum by the Department of Justice
'Refugee Ship at Cork'

1. On 30th September a motor vessel named 'The Victory' arrived at Cork carrying 374 refugees from Sweden en route to Canada.
2. The vessel, which is Norwegian registered, was built as a British landing craft and was converted into a passenger carrying ship in Norway. It is far too small for the number on board, and does not comply (and could not be altered to comply) with the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Acts which give effect to international conventions in regard to safety at sea. It is understood that the vessel is owned by a group of Estonian displaced persons some, at least, of whom are travelling on the vessel. This group have formed a company and are believed to have bought a number of British landing craft which are being converted into passenger carrying ships and which they intend to use to carry displaced persons from Sweden to the American continent. There are thousands of displaced persons from the Baltic States in Sweden. The Swedes are embarrassed by the presence of these people, especially as the Russians have, from time to time, demanded that they be sent back to their own countries and, accordingly, there is a likelihood that the Swedes will ‘wink’ at their leaving Sweden in ships which do not comply with the international safety regulations.
3. Of the 374 persons who arrived on 'The Victory' 256 are Estonians, 89 Poles, 11 Finns, 11 Lithuanians, 4 Latvians, 2 Russians and 1 is a Yugoslav. Of these 153 are men, 125 are women and 96 are children. Some of the passengers have said that when the ship was leaving Sweden the Swedish Authorities prohibited her departure and fired a shot when she refused to stop. The ship ran aground not far from Sweden and sustained some damage. She put in at Cork for repairs, but there is reason to believe that she would have called there in any event, as the Polish passengers had brought with them Polish and Irish flags, which they made up in Sweden, to present to the people of Cork. Some other refugee ships which called at Cork had been well treated – hence this gesture.
4. When the ship arrived, the Immigration Officer gave permission to the crew and passengers to go on shore to purchase supplies, etc. The ship was so overcrowded that it would have been inhuman to compel the passengers to remain all the time on board. When the ship was being got ready for repairs it was found necessary to remove the bulk of the passengers, and the Red Cross Society arranged with the Department of Defence to have them accommodated in a vacant army camp at Rockgrove near Cork. It seems that the Red Cross Society did not inquire from the passengers or the master of the ship whether they had sufficient money to pay for their keep, and they (the Red Cross Society) have been feeding 300 of the passengers in the camp at Rockgrove since 7th October at a cost of approximately £40 per day. The police are now trying to find out the financial circumstances of the aliens, but it will be difficult to get reliable information.
5. The ship has been examined by a marine surveyor of the Department of Industry and Commerce, and as a result of his report the Minister for Industry and Commerce proposes to prohibit the ship from leaving the port of Cork. The Minister for Justice understands that the Minister for Industry and Commerce considers that all possible steps should be taken to enforce this prohibition. He understands that the Defence Forces have some doubts as to the propriety of their using force to prevent the ship from leaving. He is informed, however, that the Harbour Master in Cork proposed to have the ship removed from its present berthage to a berth above one of the drawbridges on the Lee, and if the ship is moved to this berth, it will be impossible for it to leave without permission. Lest there should be difficulty, about moving the ship to the new berth, the Minister for Justice proposes to make an order (copy enclosed)¹ under the Aliens Act prohibiting the passengers from leaving the State without the permission of the Chief Superintendent of the Garda in Cork and authorising the Chief Superintendent to have a portion of the machinery of the ship removed, if this is necessary for the enforcement of the order.
6. If the ship is not allowed to leave, the authorities here will be faced with the problem of disposing of the aliens. Only about 25 of the aliens had Canadian visas when they arrived here, and 13 of those have travelled by air to Canada. The Canadian High Commissioner’s Office have warned the aliens that they will not be permitted to enter Canada without visas. It is possible, however, that some of them will succeed in getting Canadian visas from here and the Minister understands that some South American countries are prepared to grant visas freely to displaced persons from the Baltic States.
7. On the assumption that the ship will not be permitted to leave Cork, it seems to the Minister for Justice that the authorities here should approach the problem with the following objects in view:-
   • to induce as many as possible of the aliens to leave the State;
   • to reduce the cost of maintaining the aliens and for this purpose to get as many as possible of them to take up employment.
8. In order to achieve these objects the Minister recommends that the following steps should be taken:-
   • that any of the aliens who have sufficient means should be required to pay for their maintenance so long as they remain in Rockgrove;
   • that any of the aliens who have visas or who succeed in getting them should be compelled to leave and if necessary should be provided by the Red Cross Society or by the State with money to pay their fares to their destinations;
   • that the Department of External Affairs should make enquiries from the representatives of the Argentine and other South American countries in regard to the possibility of the aliens being admitted to these countries;
   • that if it is found that numbers of these aliens will be admitted to any South American State consideration should be given to the question of providing them with such assistance as may be necessary for their journey there, including, if necessary, the chartering of a ship for the purpose;
   • that permits should be granted freely for the employment of the aliens so long as they remain in the State;
   • that the Department of External Affairs should make representations to the Swedish Government with a view to persuading that Government not to allow any more unseaworthy vessels to leave Sweden with refugees.

It may be suggested that the problem of these refugees should be disposed of by the simple method of chartering a vessel and sending them back to the country from which they came, Sweden. The Minister does not recommend this course. Apart from the fact that the Swedish Authorities might refuse to readmit the refugees, sending them back to a country from which they fled on account of terror of the Russians would be an inhuman act. In this connection, the Minister wishes to point out that this country has taken in fewer displaced persons than nearly any other country in Western Europe. This is largely due to the fact that other countries have been unable to exclude displaced persons, whereas only small numbers have succeeded in making their way as far as Ireland. The fact, however, is that we have taken in less than 500 out of the millions of displaced persons, and that our total alien population (2,000 approximately over 16 years of age) is comparatively small. In the circumstances, the Minister suggests that we should adopt a charitable attitude to these refugees, notwithstanding the fact that this may encourage other refugee ships to call here.

P.S. There were rumours that the refugees had considerable wealth in the form of bullion, currency, jewellery, etc. A search (carried out yesterday) of the ship and of the baggage and persons of the majority of the aliens revealed only small sums of money. The majority appeared to have no money, but 26 had sums ranging from 5 to 500 dollars and a few had credits in Canadian banks, the biggest being only 200 dollars.