The United States virtually served notice on the United Nations today that it will not contribute money to the permanent solution of the refugee problem in Europe unless the countries in which the refugees now live assume the major burden of such a solution.
These countries, according to a report submitted to the current session of the General Assembly by Dr. G.J. Van Heuven Goedhart, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, are Austria, Western Germany, Greece, Italy and Trieste. The U.S. position was stated at a meeting today of the UN’s Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee by the American delegate to that group, A. M. Ade Johnson.
Expressing America’s endorsement “in principle” of the High Commissioner’s plans for solution of the refugee problems, Mr. Johnson laid down five specific proposals upon which any contribution from the United States is dependent. The last Congress voted nothing for this refugee relief work.
Under the five-point program, Mr. Johnson said, “the countries of asylum” must assume the major share of the cost for helping the refugees now. Further-more, the United States insists that the problem must revert entirely to those countries five years from now, if the refugees still require assistance by that time.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
