Events in Eastern Europe and the Middle East have increased the migration needs of Jews seeking safety from religious, racial and political persecution, an official of Hias (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society) said here today. Gaynor I. Jacobson, the agency’s executive director, said its facilities were being taxed by rising appeals for migration aid.
Mr. Jacobson, speaking at Hias’s 14th overseas migration conference, cited the invasion of Czechoslovakia, the anti-Jewish campaign conducted by the Polish Government and continuing unrest in the Middle East as the major factors forcing Jewish families to emigrate. He said that if Jewish minorities in the Arab countries were permitted to leave, his agency was confident that it could find resettlement opportunities for them in Europe and North and South America. He said many governments were cooperating in providing resettlement opportunities for Jewish refugees. He cited the Scandinavian countries, notably Denmark and Sweden, for their assistance in this area.
Carl Glick, Hias treasurer, reported that the agency would be required to spend $2.8 million this year to meet mounting refugee needs, a 15 percent increase over its 1968 expenditure.
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