840.48 Refugees/4789: Airgram
The Secretary of State to the Chargé in the United Kingdom (Bucknell)
A–1688. You are requested to transmit to the Director of the Intergovernmental Committee the following information which is contained in telegram No. 7262, November 19, from Bern.61
Mr. Pilet Golaz62 gave the American Legation at Bern a note dated November 16, which describes the responsibilities and burdens which the influx of refugees has placed on the Swiss Government as follows:
The large number of refugees who have arrived in Switzerland places that country in a more and more exposed position and it assumes [Page 389] a great responsibility in receiving them. The Federal Council is first of all concerned with strictly maintaining the country’s neutrality and in knowing that this neutrality will be respected by the warring nations in accordance with the assurances which were given in this respect by careful avoidance of all incidents which might compromise it in the eyes of one or another. Many of the refugees in Switzerland, however, are considered unstable and unassimilable.
The refugees realize that Switzerland can only provide temporary shelter for them and that later they must go elsewhere to establish their homes. It would be helpful for the refugees themselves as well as for the Swiss authorities to have assurances that as soon as circumstances permit, they can depart from Switzerland and that the American Government will cooperate in this respect.
Swiss authorities are concerned as regards the proper means of keeping these uprooted elements orderly and quiet. Police control alone is not enough. In order to avoid demoralization they must be kept busy and provided with work. Work can only be provided so long as the stable population is not unemployed. Refugees cannot be employed on public utility works if native labor must be employed in this manner as a means of lessening unemployment among Swiss citizens.
The possibilities available to the Swiss for importing and exporting determines the extent to which Swiss industry can be kept active. If foreign trade is reduced, unemployment will result which will have profound repercussions on the serious problem for Switzerland of receiving and taking care of refugees. The Federal Council would like the United States Government to give sympathetic consideration to this aspect of the question as its importance from a moral and practical standpoint goes beyond the actual costs of providing refugees with food, clothing, housing and other necessities.
The material charges in caring for refugees are considerable. The Swiss Government so far has spent over 100,000,000 francs on behalf of refugees and internees. This does not include gifts by the Swiss people of over 12,500,000 francs as well as clothing, foodstuffs, and loan of buildings and grounds free of charge by individuals or various institutions. Expenses of maintaining refugees are increasing daily and further facilities of a financial nature will certainly be necessary. Nearly 63,000 refugees are being cared for, 30,000 of whom arrived within a few weeks in a completely destitute condition. To provide warm clothing, and blankets for these people the stocks set aside for the needs of the Swiss population as well as the army stocks have had to be used.
[Page 390]Requirements of the large refugee population became more and more of a burden on food supplies which, at the beginning of the fifth year of the war, are evidently very limited. The Federal Council hopes that if the need arises it can make supplementary purchases for this purpose and that the United States Government will consider with sympathy requests which may be presented for licenses to purchase and transport stocks for replacement including foodstuffs and textiles.