840.48 Refugees/4175: Telegram
The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Winant) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 20—9:15 p.m.]
5470. I have received from the Director of the Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees a letter dated August 19 enclosing the memorandum quoted below. The Director states that the Chairman has instructed that it be circulated to the members of the Executive Committe and that the Chairman will be grateful if I communicate in due course any comments which I may wish to make on the memorandum, notifying the Director whether I would wish the memorandum to be discussed in Executive Committee. I should appreciate the Department’s instructions. The memorandum follows:
“12th August 1943. Memorandum on relations of the Intergovernmental Committee with voluntary organizations. The relations between the Intergovernmental Committee, on the one hand, and private organizations and workers, on the other, are of importance. Before war, voluntary organizations were active in many countries. Some were concerned with refugee questions in general but most of them were interested in particular groups of refugees, e. g. Russians, Armenians, Spaniards, German and Austrian, Czechs, etc. Within the nationality groups there were and still are separate organizations according to religion—Catholic, Protestant, Jewish. The activities show much diversity. In some organizations the functions are purely humanitarian. In others they are almost entirely political. Often they are mixed. As might be expected from the nature and size of the problem, great difference exists among the Jewish organizations. During the war new bodies have been formed relating to fresh groups, e. g. Greeks and Poles, or have devoted themselves to particular aspects of old or new problems. Contact with organizations previously working in occupied countries has necessarily been lost, but it is known that some have been able to continue, although with limited and controlled functions. As soon as conditions allow, others will revive and new ones be formed. Private organizations already number many hundreds. They may well run into thousands after the war.
There is a great volume of good will, effort, and also money being devoted to the cause of refugees; it is most desirable to encourage, extend and utilize it. The Intergovernmental Committee will, therefore, presumably wish to cooperate so far as practicable with responsible private organizations and individuals working in the refugee field, and to charge the Director and his staff with this general duty. Cooperation can be secured in various ways:
- (a)
- by establishing and maintaining contact with the various organizations
- (b)
- by being accessible in receiving deputations and representations
- (c)
- by giving the more important and reliable organizations information regarding activities and plans, where it is not necessary, [Page 209] in the interests of refugees or for other reasons, to observe secrecy
- (d)
- by encouraging the organizations to furnish information which they may have
- (e)
- by consulting organizations and individuals on particular matters on which they may have special knowledge and experience
- (f)
- by inviting, where this is desirable, individuals with special knowledge or experience to join (1) the sub-committees which the Intergovernmental Committee or the Executive Committee may set up for the study of particular questions, and (2) committees which the Director may find it convenient to form for a similar purpose.
In short, the Director and his staff must be accessible to voluntary bodies interested in any of the numerous classes of refugees that are included within the activities of the Committee. In particular, they must give no ground for complaint that the Committee is more interested in one group or another, although, of course, from time to time, a particular group, because of the actual facts, may require more attention than another.
The fact that the scope of the Committee’s activities is very wide indeed should be continuously borne in mind.
3. It may sometimes be convenient and economical for the Committee to arrange for the maintenance of refugees through voluntary organizations rather than direct, and to subsidize them where necessary. This is a particular aspect of the question which will require separate attention.
4. The methods of cooperation suggested above would apply not only to the headquarters staff of the Committee, but also to the representatives of the Committee in other countries. An important part of their duties would be to keep contact and to cooperate with responsible organizations within their area.
5. The degree of cooperation will necessarily vary. It can be full when the objects of the organization are humanitarian. When they are mixed up with politics, the Director and his staff will have to be careful. For instance, the merits or otherwise of a free Austria after the war are not their concern; nor should they get involved in the political side of the Palestine question. Again, there are organizations whose motives are excellent but whose methods are to bring pressure on their own Government and sometimes other Governments by public agitation, which, in the past, has sometimes included irresponsible and unfounded charges. It is suggested that while the Director and his staff should be accessible to such bodies where they have useful contributions to make, they should not allow themselves to be associated with attacks on any member Government of the Committee. This does not mean that the Director and his officers would be debarred from urging on member Governments more liberal measures. Indeed, this will be an important part of their duties, especially as regards the reception of refugees, but they have to do this through friendly relations by reason and persuasion.
6. It will probably be desirable for the Executive Committee itself to receive deputations when important questions of policy are involved. There is almost certain to be a revival of certain proposals [Page 210] submitted by private bodies or individuals for consideration at the Bermuda discussions. Some of these have been rejected as impracticable by the Governments of the United Kingdom and the United States of America and public statements have been made to this effect. This will not prevent them being raised again, and I anticipate that requests will be made for the Executive Committee to receive a deputation or deputations. It is only fair that non-official refugee organizations, provided that their bona fides is above reproach, should have an opportunity of prosecuting their case before the Executive Committee itself, although some of their proposals may not be practicable.
7. I do not think that it would be wise in the early stages at any rate, to establish formal and regular relationship with any particular organization or group of organizations, e. g. to set up an advisory council. Proposals of this kind have already been made by some of the Jewish organizations, but apart from the practical difficulties that would arise in getting a truly representative body, the principle, if accepted for one class of refugees, must be extended to others, and administration would be hampered by a multitude of counsellors.
The methods of cooperation which I have suggested are practical and should be adequate. H. W. Emerson.”