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Volume 8 1945~1948

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Date
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No. 141 NAI DFA 369/5

Note by the Department of External Affairs for Éamon de Valera on German naval personnel who escaped French custody and landed at Kinsale

Dublin, 25 June 1946

  1. Fifteen German naval personnel in uniform arrived at Kinsale on the 20th January in the former German mine-sweeper FN 10. The men stated that they were German prisoners-of-war in France: that they had escaped from their camp and had walked to the French port of St. Nazaire, 6 miles away, from which they had sailed for Ireland.
  2. We received no written communication from the French or any other Government with regard to the men, and there is no note on the file of any formal representations having been made verbally. There were discussions on the matter with the French Minister as a result of which arrangements were made for the sending of a French corvette to Cobh Harbour on the night of the 7th February to take the men back to France. The men were embarked without incident, and a French crew, landed from the corvette, subsequently sailed in the FN 10.
  3. From our point of view, the men were regarded as aliens arriving in this country without having permission to enter. It was on this consideration that the decision to send the men back was officially based. In a letter to Mr. Eamonn O'Neill1 dated 19th March, 1946, Mr. Walshe wrote:-

    'I need only say that the net principle underlying the action taken with regard to the German escapees can be summed up in the expression "control of immigration”. Either the Government had to assert their right to refuse admission to Irish territory to all foreigners, except those who request and are granted prior consent to land, or they had to abandon that right at the risk of advertising this country as a happy hunting-ground for every kind of "displaced person” who manages to get here from Europe.'

  4. This was the ground given by the Home Secretary, Mr. Ede,2 when he was questioned in the House of Commons on the 8th March, 1946, about his action in sending back to Poland four young Poles who had escaped from that country and landed in Scotland as stowaways. Mr. Ede said:

    'These cases received my careful consideration and I came to the conclusion that no special exception could be made. If control of immigration is to be maintained, it is essential that no encouragement should be given to the idea that persons who come to this country illegally will receive preferential treatment and be afforded facilities which would not otherwise be available to them.'

    This statement covers our position as regards the fifteen Germans at Kinsale very accurately, and, therefore, the second sentence of Mr. Ede's reply might be useful in the event of Deputy O'Neill asking supplementaries.

  5. Deputy O'Neill, however, puts the matter on the basis of the so-called right of asylum. The so-called right of asylum is simply the right of every State to refuse or grant permission to enter or remain in its national territory. It is not a right possessed by individuals. The practice as regards the grant of asylum varies widely from State to State, but, generally speaking, the right is regarded as being limited to the giving of refuge in its territory to persons whose lives are believed to be in jeopardy as a result of their political activities in a foreign country. The fifteen Germans who landed at Kinsale may perhaps have incurred a disciplinary penalty for their action in escaping from French territory, but the fact that a person was liable to a penalty of that kind would never be regarded as raising the question of the grant of asylum.

1 Eamonn O'Neill (1882-1954), Cumann na Gaedheal TD (1932-7), Fine Gael TD (1937-43 and 1944-8), Ceann Comhairle (1939-43 and 1944-8).

2 James Chuter Ede (1882-1965), British Labour politician, Home Secretary (1945-51).

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