840.48 Refugees/4786: Telegram
The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Winant) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 19—9:52 p.m.]
8095. By letter of November 3rd we made known to the Foreign Office the substance of Department’s airgram 1444, October 26th. The [Page 377] following letter dated November 17 from Randall, Foreign Office Counselor, requests the Department’s agreement to certain suggestions, and the Department’s instructions would be appreciated:
“Thank you for your letter of the 3rd November informing me that the United States Government agree that approaches to neutral countries on refugee matters should be made for reasons of efficiency and expedition, through the Director of the Intergovernmental Committee.
The Foreign Office would like this agreement to be one for procedure in general and they hope that eventually the Intergovernmental Committee will deal with all refugee matters within its mandate. They agree, however, that for the present an exception to this practice should be the arrangements by the United States and His Majesty’s Governments for the care and evacuation of refugees in Spain.
It would also, we would suggest, be advisable that another exception should be the arrangement for the evacuation of refugees from enemy-occupied countries through Turkey in transit to Palestine and other countries of asylum. His Majesty’s Government have now practically completed arrangements with the Turkish Government for journeys of children from Roumania and Hungary through Turkey to Palestine and I think you would agree that it would be inconvenient for the Intergovernmental Committee to deal with this matter at this stage. They would not wish either that the Intergovernmental Committee should deal with matters concerning Greek refugees who escape from Greece to Turkey; when Greece joins the Committee and accepts its recommendations then this can be reconsidered. Lastly, the question of the refugees in Italy is pending, and until we have the Commander-in-Chief’s observations on the suggestion to send Malin to make a report, this matter must, we think, also be reserved.
The Foreign Office consider that it might be an advantage if the United States Government and His Majesty’s Government agree to make the approach jointly to the Director of the Intergovernmental Committee to carry into effect such projects as the two Governments consider practicable for the rescue and care of refugees.
The Foreign Office agree that no public announcement of these arrangements would be proper pending member-governments’ replies to the Executive Committee’s recommendations for the revision of the mandate of the organization, nor in any event should there be any disclosure of arrangements concerning refugees in Spain, except after mutual consultation and taking into account views of United States and British Ambassadors in Madrid.
I should be grateful if you would forward the Foreign Office views on these matters to the State Department and inform me whether they are in agreement with them. If they are, then I would suggest that if you or we are confronted with any refugee problem other than the exceptions I have named we should turn it over to Sir Herbert Emerson, each informing the other that he has done so.”