An amendment to the constitution of the International Refugee Organization which obligates the IRO to give consideration to protests that might be lodged by Palestine Arabs against immigration of displaced Jews into Palestine was approved today by the U.N. Social, Cultural and Humanitarian Committee by a vote of 21 to 5. Voting in favor were the United States, the United Kingdom, the Slav bloc and the Arab states.
The amendment provides that the IRO, in endeavoring to carry out its functions in such a way as to avoid disturbing friendly relations between nations, should “exercise special care in cases where the planning of re-establishment or resettlement of origin, or and non-self-governing countries, is contemplated. The organization should give due weight, among other factors, to any evidence of genuine apprehension and concern felt in regard to such plans, in the former case, by the countries of origin of the persons involved, or in the latter case by the indigenous population of the non-self-governing countries in question.”
Four of the Arab states spoke in favor of the amendment while Canada, Colombia, and Argentina opposed it on grounds that it was too vague, decreases the authority of the IRO, and would cause long delays in resettlement.
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