The integration of the Arab refugees in Syria and Iraq was advocated last night in the House of Lords during a debate on the continued plight of displaced persons and homeless refugees.
Lord Silkin, former Labor Minister for Town and Country Planning, called repatriation of the refugees to Israel “ineffective.” He said there was ample room for them in Syria and Iraq, and ample work for them through irrigation and creation of new farms and agricultural activities in those Arab countries. He asserted that a settlement of the Arab refugee problem was being prevented by the Arab states which use refugees as political pawns in the dispute with Israel.
Lord Silkin told the House of Lords that a plan to irrigate 225, 000 acres of land in Syria had been rejected by the Arab League, with the result that 1, 000, 000, 000 cubic meters of precious water continued to be poured wastefully into the Dead Sea. He urged the British Government to help solve the refugee problem, saying its urgency was further accentuated by the possible termination of the United Nations Relief and Works program for the Arab refugees.
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