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Refugee Council Formed in Australia to Speed Entry, Absorption of Immigrants

December 6, 1938
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A meeting under the chairmanship of the Lord Mayor of Melbourne tonight established the Victorian Refugee Emergency Council to cooperate with overseas organizations in selection of refugees and assisting them to settle in Australia. Australia has announced plans to admit 15,000 refugees in three years.

A resolution, moved by the Anglican Archbishop, voiced sympathy “for all those, who for reason of race, religion or political ideas are forced to become refugees,” and endorsed the Federal Government’s action in providing them with an opportunity for a “new life in Australia.”

The new council’s objectives were described as including employment assistance, extending hospitality and in other ways helping the refugees’ absorption into Australian life. The Council is officially supported by the Federal Government and similar organizations are planned for other states.

A petition asking a liberal quota for refugees, signed by citizens, clergymen and parliamentarians, has been prepared for presentation to Prime Minister Joseph A. Lyons. The Australian Aboriginals League tomorrow will present the German Consul here with a set of resolutions protesting the “barbaric persecution of Jews” in Germany.

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