Palestine. British efforts to block the migration led to violent resistance by the Zionist underground. Illegal immigrants detained by the British Government were interned in camps on Cyprus. The immigrants had no citizenship and could not be returned to any country. Those interned included a large number of children and orphans. Immigration statistics compiled in December 1945 indicated that the White Paper allowance had been exceeded by 790 persons when illegal immigrants were included. On January 31, 1946, the High Commissioner announced: It will be recalled that in the Statement of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of November 13, 1945, it was made clear that His Majesty's Government could not divest themselves of the duties and responsibilities under the Mandate while the Mandate continued. They therefore proposed that they would consult with the Arabs with a view to an arrangement which would ensure that pending the receipt of the interim recommendations of the [Anglo-American] Committee of Inquiry there would be no interruption of Jewish immigration at the present monthly rate. These consultations with the Arabs have been proceeding over a long period and have reached no conclusive result. In these circumstances His Majesty's Government have now decided for cogent reasons that they must allow immigration to continue provisionally at the proposed rate of 1,500 a month. Preference will be given to those European Jews who have a special claim such as those to whom the Palestine Government have already undertaken obligations, and relatives in Europe of Jews already established in Palestine. Illegal immigrants will of course, continue to be deducted from quotas. The quota of 1,500 certificates for Jewish immigrants per month continued until the end of the mandate. The Provisional Council of Israel's first constitutional act was a Proclamation that "All legislation resulting from the British Government's White Paper of May, 1939, will at midnight tonight become null and void. This includes the immigration provisions as well as the land transfer regulations of February, 1940." See also Yishuv Aliyah Bet Arab–Israeli conflict British Mandate for Palestine Churchill White Paper, 1922 Passfield white paper, 1930 Proposals for a Palestinian state Army of Shadows: Palestinian Collaboration with Zionism, 1917–1948 Notes References Bibliography External links 23 May 1939 House of Lords debate in Hansard British White Paper of 1939 at Yale University Peel Commission Report (July 1937) at Jewish Virtual Library Mandatory Palestine History of Palestine (region) White papers 1939