A—2a

Two of the most important paragraphs of the resolution passed by the Council in this connection read as follows : " That a fund shall be set aside from the resources of the Administration sufficient for the continuation of these operations until 30th June, 1947, on a scale of cost not exceeding that of its present operations. It is contemplated that such a fund may be made available without interfering with the fulfilment of the Administration's programme of operations. " That the Administration, with the approval of the Central Committee, may transfer to any of the above organizations or bodies " (i.e., the International Refugee Organization or any appropriate interim Commission) " the whole or part of this fund . . . and may arrange for the transfer of any of its personnel to any of these organizations or bodies. The Council expresses the hope that such transfer or transfers may take place as soon as possible and that the International Refugee Organization will begin operations at the earliest possible date." It is perhaps well to stress that the control authorities of the Allied Governments .are bearing the whole cost of the feeding and housing of displaced persons in Germany and of the transport of those opting for repatriation. UNRRA's responsibilities are •confined to administration of the majority (though not all) of the displaced persons' •camps and various kinds of welfare work in such camps. In the case of Austria, where there is a relatively small number compared with Germany, UNRRA has also been bearing the cost of food, but will not continue to do so after completion of the existing programme. The control Powers have undertaken to remove, as far as possible, all obstacles to repatriation. To this end thejr have already removed from displaced persons' camps all liaison officers originally appointed on the recommendation of the so-called " London " Polish Government, and have replaced them by nominees of the recognized Polish Government. They also distribute in the camps literature supplied by the Warsaw Government, and have given assurances that, as far as possible, they are preventing the circulation of clandestine anti-repatriation newspapers. They have also commenced a process of " screening " displaced persons to ensure that any war criminals or other ineligible persons are removed from displaced persons' camps and disqualified from receiving UNRRA aid. It was not disputed that many of the displaced persons had been influenced by propaganda hostile to repatriation and to the existing Governments, but, on the other hand, the Director-General in his report, and the representatives of the ■control Powers, emphasized that the newspapers supplied by the Warsaw Government were largely ineffective in counteracting such propaganda, because the contents of these official newspapers were also so obviously propagandist in character as to destroy confidence as to the accuracy of the information given in them. As one constructive step towards creating a true perspective regarding conditions in their home countries, the New Zealand representative stressed the importance of providing every facility for the exchange of uncensored letters between displaced persons and their families and friends in their homelands. Another practical step to encourage repatriation, which has already been taken by the United Kingdom and United States Governments, is the provision by the Allied control authorities of sixty to ninety days' rations to all displaced persons who agree to repatriation. As regards resettlement, the Director-General strongly urged the necessity for careful 'examination of any plans submitted, to ensure that there should be no exploitation of displaced persons so resettled. In this connection investigations are already being carried out by the Inter-governmental Committee on Refugees into proposals made by Brazil for accepting up to 100,000 immigrants in 1947 and a similar number yearly for several years thereafter, and into other much smaller proposals in respect of some other countries. Mr. La Guardia also appealed to the U.S.A. (which, he said, had talked most about it but done least) to agree to vary its laws on immigration quotas -to allow of 100,000 displaced persons being accepted there ; and he appealed to a

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