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Report Ecuador Offers Land for Refugee Settlement Project

May 10, 1939
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Two representatives of the Ecuador Government have arrived here with a project to settle 200 married and 300 single refugees on Government land, it was learned today. The scheme will probably be transmitted to President Roosevelt’s Advisory Committee on Political Refugees in New York for investigation.

The project requires an investment of $500,000 and stipulates that all refugees must settle collectively on land indicated by the Government, cultivate a minimum of 250 hectares and cannot rescind the contract before six years have passed. Those not fulfilling their obligations would be deported, while the remainder would be required to apply for citizenship a year after settling.

The Government, for its part, would (1) deliver land for cultivation by the colony, (2) grant free visas to the prospective settlers, (3) grant agricultural credit at four per cent interest, (4) pay for transportation from the Guayaquil port to the place of colonization and (5) grant free land for schools, hospitals and roads and participate financially in their realization.

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