A joint statement by Britain, the United States and Russia outlining a common policy on the refugee problem was demanded yesterday in the House of Lords by Lord Templewood. He charged that present methods of dealing with displaced persons were totally inadequate.
Lord Strabolgi, discussing the plight of the Jewish refugees in liberated territory, said that eighty percent of them, about 700,000 persons, were willing to emigrate to Palestine if visas were available. An influx of these people, he added, would provide more recruits for the Jewish Brigade.
Replying for the Government, Viscount Cranborne, former Colonial Minister, said that the failure to admit more people to Palestine was not because the immigration quota was exhausted, but because of the housing shortage there. Admitting that the majority of the liberated Jews wish to go to Palestine, Lord Cranborne said that the choice of immigrants has been left to the Jewish Agency to whom the immigration certificates are allocated.
He advised against “raising false hopes” of an easy way out of the refugee problem, adding that “however we tackle it, it will be with us for many years to come; it is likely to occupy the whole of our lives and, perhaps, the lives of our children. He urged that the question be dealt with on an international basis.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
