840.48 Refugees/4716c: Airgram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Winant)
A–1444. On August 21, 1943, at Quebec, the Secretary was handed a memorandum by a representative of the British Government44 in which it was proposed that in the future approaches to neutral countries concerning refugee questions be made through the Director of [Page 371] the Intergovernmental Committee. It was also suggested that any announcement of such a decision should make it clear that the Governments of the United States and Great Britain were not disinteresting themselves from these questions but were initiating the proposed procedure for greater efficiency and expedition.
The United States Government agrees to the proposed procedure for approaching neutral governments and has, as you know, already proceeded on this basis with several projects which have come to its attention. It would seem advisable, however, to make an exception for the time being in the case of refugees in Spain where arrangements for their care and evacuation are being made by the representations of the British and United States Governments.
It would not seem proper to make any public announcement of this understanding pending the receipt of replies from the member Governments to the Executive Committee’s recommendation for revision of its mandate. Under no circumstances, of course, would our arrangements concerning refugees in Spain be disclosed in a public announcement.
- Correspondence on the conference between President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill at Quebec in August 1943 is scheduled for publication in a subsequent volume of Foreign Relations.↩