A plan to colonize on French land an estimated 18,000 Jews who have entered the country illegally was outlined to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency today by Undersecretary of Labor Phillippe Serre. M. Serre explained that the project had originated with him and had not yet been approved by the Cabinet, but had all chances of approval.
the plan would be only applicable to Jews who entered France during or before the Paris international Exposition, but would not apply to those who entered after the exposition, nor to Jews living in other countries. Its threefold purpose is to avoid any mass expulsion of Jewish aliens, to reduce congestion in the cities and to reduce unemployment.
It was reliably learned that M. Serre shortly will invite representatives of Jewish organizations, including the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the Alliance Israelite Universelle, the HIAS-ICA Emigration Association and the French Federation of Jewish Societies, to a conference at which he will ask for a definite reply on whether they will accept the plan.
It is understood that the French Government will ask Jewish organizations to guarantee the sum of 20,000,000 francs to carry out the project and to be spent for the needs of the settlers. The land will apparently be granted free by the Government in the south western and central sections of the country. Settlements will be conducted on a cooperative basis.
Settlers will be provided with documents legalizing their status until naturalization, allowing them to live only in agricultural districts. Settlers who return to Paris or other large cities will be deported.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
