A vessel carrying the first transport of Jews from liberated Italy – consisting of 570 refugees from Yugoslavia, Greece and other Balkan countries – reached Palestine waters today and the passengers will disembark during the week-end. They were provided with immigration visas by the Jewish Agency and their transportation was arranged by the Joint Distribution Committee. A group of 400 Yemenite Jews also arrived today.
The Jewish Agency today announced that Elihau Dobkin, head of its rescue department, is proceeding to Algiers to meet there with Dr. Joseph Schwartz, European Director of the J.D.C. to confer on transferring more Jews from liberated Italy, It is understood that several thousand Jewish refugees in Italy and North Africa are waiting Palestine visas, but have encountered difficulty in receiving them because the British Colonial Office is not anxious to provide them with visas, which should be available under the provisions of the White Papers.
(In New York, the Joint Distribution Committee announced today that 2,000 refugees from Yugoslavia, most of them Jews, are now safe in Switzerland. The J.D.C. has allocated $1,840,000 to aid 25,000 Jewish refugees from various occupied countries who have found refuge in Switzerland. In making this announcement, Joseph C. Hyman, executive vice-chairman of the J.D.C., lauded the Swiss Government for its treatment of the refugees for whom fifty centers have been established throughout the country.)
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