A—2a

divergent views of the minority, composed of the principal countries of origin, and the majority, consisting mainly of the western European and the American democracies; but the discussion was at least conducted with a notable absence of the heat so evident on previous occasions. Though there was no lack of frankness in expressing divergent views, there was a marked determination to approach the subject objectively and to endeavour to find common ground and to achieve practical solutions. In the end the minority, while still maintaining their objections on some points, voted for the lengthy resolution passed by the Council on the subject Without going in detail into the matter, the opposing views may be summarized as follows : the minority lay the whole stress on repatriation and insist that by now the process of repatriation would have been practically complete if the local military authorities of the control powers in Germany and Austria had been more sympathetic and had taken adequate steps to suppress anti-repatriation propaganda by the political opponents of the existing Governments of Poland, Yugoslavia, &c, and had given those Governments sufficient facilities to place the facts before their nationals in the displaced persons' camps. Similar views as to the attitude of the military authorities were also expressed by Mr. La Guardia, who did not, however, share the view that repatriation alone will prove a complete solution. The minority further contend that no steps regarding resettlement, overseas or elsewhere, should be taken until repatriation is complete, as any suggestion of possible resettlement elsewhere only results in displaced persons remaining undecided regarding repatriation, in the hope of better prospects elsewhere. They also reiterated the claim that the consent of his own Government should be essential before any displaced person is accepted for resettlement—a claim which was absolutely repudiated by the majority. The requests of the countries of origin for detailed lists of displaced persons were also opposed by the majority, owing to a sincerely felt fear that this might have harmful consequences for those of their families still in their homelands. Less was heard than at previous Council sessions of the contention that those actively opposed to repatriation were war criminals or collaborators and therefore unworthy of international assistance, though some charges of terrorism by " Fascist elements" in the camps and demands for segregation of such persons were made. The majority view continues to be that, though repatriation of as many as possible would be far the best solution, there must be no compulsion or undue pressure on displaced persons to return to their former countries, and that, in fact, the " hard core " of unrepatriables will run into several hundred thousand. They further stress the urgency of finding some solution to the problem, owing not only to the political dangers inherent in the great numbers of displaced persons, but to the inevitable deterioration in their morale and employability if they remain for a further lengthy period in the camps. Prompt steps were therefore strongly urged for resettlement of unrepatriables,. concurrently with all legitimate action to encourage repatriation of those not irreconcilably opposed to it. The work of resettlement would be the main task of the new organization, the International Refugee Organization (IRO), the draft constitution of which was approved by the Economic and Social Council on 21st June, 1946, for submission to the member Governments of the United Nations. The final decision as to the setting-up of this new body will not, however, be made until the next meeting of the General Assembly of the United Nations, in the light of the response of the various Governments to the proposals approved by the Economic and Social Council. On the most optimistic view, therefore, the IRO will not be in a position to commence operations for a considerable time to come. It was therefore unanimously agreed that the work of UNRRA in respect of displaced persons should be continued until the IRO was in a position to take over.

4