Officials of the interdepartmental committee set up to expedite the handling of emergency visitors’ visas for European refugees said today that “practically all” of the 2,000 persons recommended had been issued visas. Very few were turned down, but a sizeable number were unable to take advantage of the visitors’ permits made available by committee recommendation, it was said.
In addition, it was said, the State Department is encountering difficulty in distributing visas, both visitors’ and immigrants’, to visa applicants in Europe, many of whom are classed as refugees but who do not fall into the emergency classification.
The difficulty is due to restrictions placed on emigration of refugees from territory occupied or dominated by the Germans, officials asserted. Exodus of “Aryan” refugees has been banned entirely by the Nazis. Jews, while under less restriction as to departing, generally have been plundered of their funds and cannot leave without assistance.
The bulk of the refugees in unoccupied France are hampered in their efforts to reach this country by the necessity of crossing Spain to reach Lisbon, the Continent’s sole remaining “open door,” it was declared.
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