United Nations Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold took formal note today of the end of World Refugee Year, proclaimed to ensure a concerted attack on the chronic refugee problem, and stressed that it must be regarded “as a beginning, not an end.”
The Secretary General warned that “the refugee problem will be with us, I am afraid, forever unless the world turns more peaceful. For that reason it is good if we can solve the problems which have been with us for too long and have got rather stale, with all the sum of human suffering they have involved. But we should not believe that this is the end of the road. We must anticipate, as I said, continued needs, and for that reason we also must count on continued assistance.”
Mr. Hammarskjold said that 77 countries and 11 territories had participated in World Refugee Year. Total pledges to date, he said, have been “satisfactory.” He noted that several governments and private agencies intend to continue their efforts at least until the end of the year.
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