IOR/L/PS/12/3426

Correspondence and papers collected in response to an influx of refugees arriving in the northern provinces of Persia [Iran] from Soviet Russia, reaching a peak during 1932 and 1933, as a result of a chronic famine affecting parts of southern Russia.

• Extracts from consular diaries and intelligence summaries, submitted by the British Consulates and Vice Consulates at Meshed [Mashhad] (Lieutenant-Colonel Cyril Charles Johnson Barrett; Major L G W Hamber; Major Clive Kirkpatrick Daly), Tabriz (Clarence Edward Stanhope Palmer) and Resht [Rasht] (Archibald William Davis).
• Reports and memoranda on refugees from Russia in Persia (their numbers, condition, treatment at the hands of Russian and Persian authorities, movements) compiled by British officials at Meshed, Tabriz and Resht, and submitted to Government by the British Legation in Tehran (Reginald Hervey Hoare).
• Correspondence exchanged between India Office and Foreign Office representatives in response to the reports received from Persia, discussing what actions might be taken.

Many of the reports and correspondence provide evidence of British officials’ suspicions of Communist (or Bolshevik) conspirators amongst the refugees, whom they suspect of intending to foment unrest in Persia. The papers also give indication of the various different ethnic groups and peoples comprising the refugees from Russia (including Turcoman [Turkmen], Armenian, Khirgis [Kyrgyz], Bukharan Jewish), and differences in the treatment and movements of these different groups, including, for example, Bukharan Jewish refugees’ attempts to obtain visas for travel to Palestine.

The file contains a single item of correspondence in French, being a copy of a letter from the Secretary General of the League of Nations (f 9).