Efforts to formulate ways in which to minimize legal difficulties facing stateless persons, setting minimum standards for their economic, social and legal treatment in countries in which they find themselves, will be made here at a special conference called for next month, it was announced here today.
The conference will be held September 12 to 24. The United States will not be represented at the parley. The reason, as explained by a spokesman for the U.S. delegation here, is that persons of the type to be dealt with at the conference may obtain citizenship in the United States under normal procedures, and therefore their rights here would be assured.
The conference will attempt to extend to the stateless the privileges now granted under the UN Convention on Refugees which went into effect last April, after ratification by Australia, Belgium, Great Britain, Denmark, Western Germany, France, Luxemburg, Monaco and Norway. The U.S.A. is not a signatory to this convention either.
While this conference on the stateless was being announced here, an appeal was received here from Geneva from Dr. J.G. van Heuven Goedhart, UN Commissioner for Refugees, who urged more financial help to his program which, he declared, is in a critical situation. According to Dr. van Heuven Goedhart, the failure of the American Congress to appropriate $500,000, previously pledged for this work by the United States, left the current year’s activities $557,000 short of their objective.
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