Adolescent War Orphans No Longer A Problem

Chronicle (Levin), 11 October 1949, Page 3

Adolescent War Orphans No Longer A Problem

t • " WELLINGTON, Oct. 10. * The plan to bring adoleseent Eufopea'r war orphans. to New Zealand, has been dropped, dt least for the time be|ng. Comparatively few potential immigrants of the kind are now available and the problem whieh it was thought New Zealand .would be helping to solve, has quickly eeased to exist. It was expected that the only diffieulty would be in finding homes for adoleseent foreign children. Aetually the diffieulty has been rather to find the children. Apparently other countries xealised at the same time as New Zealand, that boys and girls in the charge of the International Refugee Organisation are not undesirable as had been widely assumed. The proposal was brought forward in July when it was stated there were boys and girls aged from 14 to 18 who had been orphaned by the war and who were desirable as young citizens. A meeting of representatives of organisations interested in young people, held on July 15 under the auspices of the Inter-Chureh Council, deeided to refer the plan to the organisations represented at the meeting, to find out how many homes would be available for the children. At the insti'gation of the conference in July the Labour Department cabled for more information about adolescent displaced persons and recently had been informed that fewer than 100 remained available and that other countries were eager to have them. About a fortnight ago a message stated that if New Zealand wanted these adolescents it must iact quickly. After consultation with the inter-Church Council, the Government deeided that the adolescent displaced persons, being no longer a problem in Europe, the matter should be pursued no further. The committee established by the conference in July is to remain standing in case homeless adolescents become a problem again in Europe or Britain.