IOR/L/PS/12/2080

This file concerns international sanitary arrangements in relation to the Kingdom of the Hejaz and Nejd (later Saudi Arabia). The file consists almost entirely of copies of Foreign Office correspondence, which have been forwarded by the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to the Under-Secretary of State for India. Most of the correspondence is between the British Minister at Jedda (Sir Andrew Ryan) and various Foreign Office officials. Other correspondents include the Italian Ambassador and the Italian Chargé d’Affaires in London.

The correspondence principally discusses the following:

• Reports of objections from the Hejazi Ministry of Foreign Affairs to quarantine measures taken by the Egyptian and Italian sanitary authorities, following suspected cases of cholera among pilgrims at Tor [El-Tor] and Massowa [Massawa, Eritrea].
• British efforts to persuade the Hejaz-Nejd Government to adhere to the Rome Convention of 1907, in order to secure the right to be represented at the meetings of the Office International d'Hygiène Publique (International Office of Public Hygiene).

The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.