840.48 Ref/1–3145

The Adviser on Refugees and Displaced Persons (Warren) to the Second Secretary of the British Embassy (Russell)

My Dear John: As I promised you when you called with Mr. Everson5 on February 1, further consideration has been given to your letter of January 18 and your memorandum of January 316 on “Jewish Refugees from the Balkan States”.

You will recall that at our meeting on January 5, 1945 at which we discussed your letter to me of December 277 on the same subject, the conclusion was reached that it would not be feasible for the United States Government to support the request of the British Government to UNRRA that refugees reaching the Near East from the Balkan States in excess of current Palestine quotas be admitted to the camp at Philippeville in Algiers. Your letter of January 18 refers to the arrival of six hundred odd refugees at the Turkish border about December 20, who were later admitted to Palestine, and your memorandum of January 31 cites the number of refugees, particularly in Rumania, who may desire to leave that country.

This additional information does not appear to justify a change in the conclusion reached at our January 5 conference. To review the considerations on which that conclusion was based:

1.
Refugees in Rumania are now in liberated territory and no longer in danger of their lives.
2.
Your memorandum of January 31 states that over 100,000 Rumanian Jews have registered for immigration to Palestine.
3.
UNRRA resolutions provide that UNRRA may care for and repatriate those of any nationality or the stateless who have been persecuted by the enemy.
4.
The refugees in question desiring to emigrate to Palestine for permanent settlement do not appear in consequence to qualify for UNRRA care at Philippeville.
5.
The anticipated movement of refugees in excess of Palestine quotas on which the proposal is based seems unlikely in view of the controls on movement and shipping now in effect in Rumania, Bulgaria and Turkey.
6.
In efforts to relieve the needs of Jewish refugees in Rumania, the United States Government has agreed that the Rumanian Government should be requested by the Allied Control Commission to expand activities of relief and rehabilitation on behalf of Jewish refugees.

I shall be glad to review this matter with you again at any time if later developments suggest the need of further discussion.

Sincerely yours,

George L. Warren
  1. Frederick C. Everson, Second Secretary of the British Embassy.
  2. Neither printed.
  3. Not printed.