U.S. Criticizes United Nations for Providing Relief to Armed Arabs

The United States Government strongly condemned today the provision of United Nations relief to Arab refugees serving in the Palestine Liberation Organization and the failure of the United Nations organization in charge of refugee relief to remove from its ration rolls the large number of refugees who are not entitled to U. N. aid.

These statements were made by U.S. Ambassador Harding F. Bancroft, the American representative in the General Assembly’s 101-member Special Political Committee. The Committee has been debating the refugee problem for over a week, the discussion centering on the annual report filed here a month ago by Laurence Michelmore, Commissioner General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.

In his annual report, Dr. Michelmore had informed the Assembly, among other things, that in the year under review, he had made no progress of any significance in rectifying UNRWA’s relief rolls, as ordered to do by the Assembly a year ago. He blamed this failure on lack of cooperation by the “host” governments, which have jurisdiction over the areas where the refugees are maintained — Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. Dr. Michelmore had reported also that his organization was channeling rations to young refugees who are currently receiving training in the PLO.

After deploring UNRWA’s inability to aid the refugees fully in accordance with their human needs, Mr. Bancroft told the Committee: “It is difficult to believe the suggestion in the report that there would be adverse reactions among the refugees to the agency’s efforts to stop the trafficking in ration cards and ration commodities. The only objection, it seems to us, would come from the traffickers themselves. We hope UNRWA will deal promptly and vigorously with this problem. It is outrageous that a few profiteers should be permitted to cheat needy refugees out of benefits provided by the international community.”

CONSIDERS U. N. FEEDING OF MEN IN AN ANTI-ISRAEL ARMY ‘INADMISSIBLE’

Referring then to the problem of aiding members of the PLO, Mr. Bancroft told the Committee: “Since the Palestine Liberation Army came into existence, many young men on the agency’s ration rolls have been recruited into it — and yet have remained on the ration rolls. The United States delegation made clear last year that we consider it inadmissible for a U. N. agency to supply rations to men serving in an army dedicated to the solution of the repatriation question by armed force and, indeed, to the overthrow of the government of a member of the United Nations.”

Mr. Bancroft noted that Dr. Michelmore had stated in his report that he had worked out special financial arrangements through which the “host” governments had contributed $150,000 to UNRWA so that the rations provided to members of the PLO would not come out of funds contributed by other governments to UNRWA. Seventy percent of general UNRWA funds are contributed by the United States. He recalled that the United States objected last year to the provision of UNRWA aid to members of the PLO and told the Assembly:

“My government’s position as stated last year is one of principle. We believe the Assembly should not give the impression that it condones or regards with indifference the involvement of any United Nations agency with an organization which avows such purposes.”

CALLS FOR RECTIFICATION OF U. N. RELIEF ROLLS OF ARAB REFUGEES

The American representative called on the Assembly to restate its commitment to “a permanent solution to the problem of the Palestine refugees.” He expressed the United States Government’s regret that “no progress has been made in the program of reintegration for the refugees either by repatriation or by resettlement.”

“We must urge the governments concerned to come forward with more flexible and realistic plans for an ultimate solution, ” he said. “The Palestine Conciliation Commission should remain the focus for such plans and programs but the responsibility for progress does not and cannot lie only with the Commission. It is chiefly the responsibility of the governments concerned with this problem to make some moves toward compromise and conciliation. The longer they failed to do so, the more unstable the situation is likely to become — with consequent increasing danger to the true interests of both sides.”

Mr. Bancroft concluded his address by introducing a formal resolution which would have the Assembly noting “with concern” that “despite limited progress further measures are required toward the rectification of the relief rolls and accordingly directs the Commissioner General to take such measures, including rectification of the rolls, as to ensure in cooperation with the governments concerned the most equitable distribution of relief based on need.”