A statement “explaining11 why the International Refugee Organization has suspended migration assistance to displaced Jews en route to Israel was issued here today “by Gen. Walter A. Wood, chief of the I.R.O. Preparatory Commission. The statement, released to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, reads:
“Orders suspending sponsorship of immigration to Palestine are based on the conviction that open warfare there makes genuine resettlement of families, including women and children, impossible for the present. Since this is true it is considered no part of the job of an international agency to send soldiers to fight., Previous movements were carried out on visas issued by a recognized authority no longer in existence, hence I.R.O. has no assurance of post-resettlement welfare including housing, reasonable employment and normal existence for refugees1 families.
“I.B.O. is non-political and takes no position in the Middle East controversy. Far from opposing resettlement in Palestine, I.B.O. has, on the contrary, already sponsored six thousand movements there and has budgeted to send 75,000 more in anticipation of an ultimate peaceful settlement.
“The policy statement was issued after receipt of press inquiries on the I.R.O. position. The policy in no way interfered with the freedom that refugees have to move anywhere in the world under any other sponsorship they can obtain.”
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