The United States Government proposed to 28 European and American nations yesterday an international agreement for facilitating the emergency removal of political refugees from Germany and Austria.
Secretary Cordell Hull, the State Department announced, has sent messages to these governments stressing “the necessity of speedy cooperative effort if widespread human suffering is to be averted.”
Under the agreement, the United States itself would be able to accept immediately nearly 18,000 refugees. The immigration quota for Germany Remaining until June 30 is 16,953, and the Austrian, 1,000. New quotas totalling 25,957 become effective July 1.
(From Warm Springs, Ga., President Roosevelt was quoted on Friday as declaring the State Department’s action was designed to aid minorities in Russia, Spain and Italy as well as Austria and Germany.)
The text of the State Department’s statement follows:
This Government has become so impressed with the urgency of the problem of political refugees that it has inquired of a number of government in Europe and in this hemisphere whether they would be willing to cooperate in setting up a special committee for the purpose of facilitating the emigration from Austria, and presumably from Germany, of political refugees.
“Our idea is that, whereas such representatives would be designated by the governments concerned, any financing of the emergency emigration referred to would be undertaken by private organizations within the respective countries. Furthermore, it would be understood that no country would be expected to receive a greater number of immigrants than is permitted by its existing legislation.
“In making this proposal, the Government of the United States has emphasized that it in no sense intends to discourage or interfere with such work as already being done on the refugee problem by any existing international agency. It has been prompted to make its proposal because of the urgency of the problem with which the world is faced and the necessity of speedy, cooperative effort under governmental supervision if widespread human suffering is to be averted.”
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