A group of non-governmental organizations petitioned the British Foreign Secretary today to support the movement for a Declaration of the Right of Asylum to be drafted by the Human Rights Commission.
In a letter signed by these organizations, Selwyn Lloyd, the British Foreign Secretary, was told that “the need for international action on problems connected with the right of asylum have become even more urgent as a result of the recent events in Hungary, Egypt and China.” The letter pointed out that “hundreds of thousands of people have fled from these countries because they had well-grounded fears of persecution on the grounds of race, religion or political opinion.”
It stressed the need for “additional international action to guarantee that people fleeing from persecution shall be able to enjoy the rights of asylum” and it expressed the “strong hope that Her Majesty’s Government will express itself favorably to a request to the Human Rights Commission to draft a Declaration on the Right of Asylum.”
Among the signatories to the plea were the United Nations Association, the Women’s International League, the National Council of Women, the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Agudas Israel World Organization.
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