The United Nations Special Political Committee, which concluded a three-week discussion of the future of the Palestine Conciliation Commission yesterday in a welter of confusion during which the sponsors of a proposal to continue the Commission found themselves voting against their own resolution, today got off to an upsetting start on the Palestine Arab refugee question.
After two sessions on the problem, the United States, Britain, France and Turkey–joint sponsors of a resolution on the refugee issue–withdrew their resolution before it was discussed at any length because the Arab states objected to it. The four powers are now meeting with representatives of the Arab states in an attempt to draft a resolution satisfactory to the latter.
The resolution would have commended the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for its “development of a constructive program which contributes to the welfare of the refugees in the countries of the area concerned.” The agency’s program envisages the expenditure of $50,000,000 for refugee relief and $200,000,000 for the reintegration of the refugees within Arab states in the Middle East over a three-year period.
Arab criticism of the proposal was that the U.N. program touched upon the sovereignty of the Arab states. The question which the Political Committee has under discussion is the welfare of the refugees, Fadil el Jamali of Iraq reminded the body not the welfare of the Arab states. He added that the Arab states were not colonies nor were they under the domination of the four Western Powers.
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