Laguardia Charges Military Planning to Abolish Dp Camps if U.N. Does Not Aid Refugees

Director-General of Unrra Fiorello H. LaGuardia, in a letter to all members of the U.N. Social and Economic Council, has charged that the military authorities in Germany and Austria are planning to close the displaced persons camps there and turn the DP’s loose to provide for themselves in the event the United Nations does not take over when Unrra ceases operations in June, 1947.

Describing such plans as “alarming and disturbing,” LaGuardia asserted he was “somewhat grieved” to hear expressions of hesitancy on the part of members of the Council to act quickly on the refugee problem because of the cost involved. “The responsibility cannot be avoided,” he stressed; “unlike other matters before the United Nations, it cannot be delayed.

“Unrra ceases operation on June 30, 1947,” he warned, adding: “If no action is taken, the armies of occupation in various zones would have full and complete control. There would be no international body then to establish a policy. There would be no international co-operation to provide protection. There would be no plan to aid in repatriation or settlement, I leave the results to your own imaginations.

“Therefore, I beg of you to bring this matter to a prompt decision. Please grant the interim commission authority to take over immediately,” he concluded.

(Gen. Joseph T. McNarney, U.S. commander in the European Theatre, told a press conference in Berlin yesterday that the flow of refugees from Eastern to Mediterranean ports via the U.S. zone in Germany had virtually stopped as the result of the British clamp-down on entry of visaless Jews to Palestine.)