The refugee problem came up today for a full-fledged discussion before the U.N. Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee, with Andrei Vishinsky, Soviet delegate, as the first speaker. The discussion is expected to continue for three full sessions.
In a lengthy statement Vishinsky demanded that the proposed International Refugee Organization repatriate refugees and displaced persons from Germany and Austria to their native countries instead of resettling them “in other countries, distant from their native lands.”
As a result of a recommendation adopted last night by the U.N. steering committee, the General Assembly will act on a proposal to study the problem of genocide with a view toward outlawing it as a crime against humanity. The proposal, presented by Cuba, India and Panama, described genocide as the destruction of “national, racial, ethnic or religious groups either in whole or in part.” The only opposition to the proposal on the agenda of the General Assembly was voiced in the steering committee by the representatives of the Soviet Union and the Ukraine who argued that human rights are adequately protected in the U.N. Charter.
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