Page 114 - Arabiab Studies (IV)

104 Arabian Studies IV
Clayton argued that possession of Kamaran should be retained,
both to ensure an efficient quarantine service in the Red Sea and
as a ‘useful’ post from which Britain could observe the activities of
ImSm Yaljya and the Idris!.111 The Resident in Aden favoured a
permanent British occupation of Kamaran and $allf and a
temporary occupation of al-Hudaydah.112 The British delegation to
the Paris Peace Conference was in favour of obtaining recognition
from the signatories of the Treaty with Turkey of the fact that ‘by
reason of the proximity of the Arabian Peninsula to parts of the
British Empire and of the maritime communications with India,
Great Britain had special political interests in the Peninsula and in
the islands’.113 The High Commissioner in Egypt, too, suggested a
British occupation of Kamaran.114 The question of the sovereignty
of Kamaran was, however, never raised at Paris and its status was
left ‘indeterminate’ after Turkey renounced its rights by the Treaty
of Lausanne in 1923.115 Article 14 of the Treaty simply declared
that the future of the Red Sea islands ‘will be settled by the parties
concerned’ but without specifying who the parties were, so that no
agreement over the future of Kamaran was possible.116
Kamaran was administered by the Governor of Aden on behalf
of the Government of India.117 In 1949, by an Order in Council, the
Governor of Aden was also made Governor of Kamaran ‘with
authority to appoint a Commissioner for the group of islands.
Kamaran did not become part of the Aden Colony, but for
convenience the Governor used armed police from Aden for its
protection’.118
Britain continued to administer the quarantine station until
1926, when an Anglo-Dutch Agreement was concluded by which
the Civil Administrator of Kamaran was able to act as director of
the quarantine station assisted by two medical officers—one to be
appointed by the Governor of India and the other by the
Government of the Dutch East Indies. Measures to be applied
against Dutch pilgrims were to be decided by the Dutch Medical
Officer.119
While permitting a Dutch presence on the island Britain still
feared Italian aspirations in Arabia and, in the 1920’s prior to the
Anglo-Italian talks in Rome, the British delegates were briefed on
the guiding principles of British policy in the region, namely the
importance of imperial communications with India and the
exclusion of any European power from the Arab shore of the Red
Sea, ‘especially’ Kamaran and Farasan.120
The Dutch medical mission on Kamaran was replaced by
Indonesian doctors and nurses when the Dutch territory achieved
independence. This arrangement lasted until the Saudi Arabian