The treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire: Documents presented to Viscount Grey of Fallodon
History
The treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire: Documents presented to Viscount Grey of Fallodon
Armenian question; Armenians; World War, 1914-1918 -- Atrocities; World War, 1914-1918 -- Refugees
No special committee which could take over the management of relief
work exists in this district. The Delijan Committee partly performs
the duties which would devolve on such a body. No properly organised
system of administering relief is provided. Very few individual
refugees are unwilling to find employment. The invariable excuse put
forward for refusing work is the absence of proper clothing for
taking on open air work; also, that no food is procurable where work
is offering, in consequence of which the refugees have to starve. Up
to the 2nd December, the refugees were supplied with tea and sugar
by the Urban Union. For some unknown reason, this allowance has
recently been discontinued.
Hospital arrangements are good in this district. The hospital is
maintained out of funds supplied by the Urban Union.
The ground floor of a wing of an unoccupied barrack building has
been adapted to accommodate refugees. The building, although
spacious, is gloomy and dark, and is exceedingly badly ventilated.
The upper floor is temporarily occupied by 123 orphans, who are
cared for by the Armenian Central Committee. The children go about
barefoot.
At Delijan four asylums for children exist. Prince Argoudinsky was
only able to visit one of these establishments. The one inspected by
him is managed by Princess Toumanov, and is maintained out of funds
furnished by the Armenian Benevolent Society. After their dinners,
the children go to school. They look strong and healthy, and their
appearance shows care and kind treatment in every respect. According
to information obtained by Prince Argoudinsky, the other three
asylums at Delijan are likewise well managed and kept.
The relief extended to the refugees at Delijan is only of a
primitive nature; the same remark cannot, however, be applied to the
unsatisfactory conditions obtaining in this connection in the
district of Kazakh. Here the question of housing the refugees is one
of the most painful features of the relief work undertaken. In a
large number of villages in this district, the refugees are mostly
accommodated in derelict sheds and shops—dark, unheated and
overcrowded. For some unaccountable reason warm clothing has not
been issued to them. They do not receive their rations of flour and
cash allowances with regularity, and no Central Organisation to
inquire into their immediate and urgent needs exists on the spot.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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