L/UNA files, “Headquarters Agreement—Section 6”
Memorandum by the Deputy United States Representative at the United Nations ( Wadsworth ) to the Under Secretary of State for Administration ( Lourie )
- Subject:
- Visa Application of Anwar Youseff El meshry, UN Secretariat Recruit.
Attached is a copy of a file1 I have received from Ingram (OIA) concerning this matter. The file deals with an Egyptian national being recruited by the UN Secretariat, and for whom the UN has requested a visa from the Cairo Consulate by telegram dated October 20, 1953. A copy of this telegram was forwarded by USUN to Maney (VO) on October 21st.2
The file indicates that the Cairo Consulate considers that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the subject is inadmissible to the U.S. under Section 212(a) (29) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and that by OMV 4 of November 4th the Consulate has requested the Department’s advisory opinion concerning the matter. This file also contains a memorandum dated November 19th from Maney (VO) to Ingram (OIA) and Chase (SCA)2 stating that VO concurs in the Consulate’s finding of inadmissibility and recommending that the UN Organization be requested to cancel the subject’s appointment as a staff member. This recommendation appears, from Ingram’s memorandum of November 25th2 addressed to me, to be concurred in both by OIA and SCA. No clearance with the Legal Adviser’s office or other office is indicated.
It has been my understanding that one of the decisions taken at the meeting held on May 29, 1953 in the Attorney General’s office, and in which you, Ambassador Lodge and myself participated, was that a final finding of inadmissibility of persons covered by the Headquarters Agreement such as the subject would be taken only at the highest level and would have to be concurred in by the Secretary or Acting Secretary of State. Accordingly I assume that the finding in the instant case is only preliminary and has not yet been reviewed within the Department.
[Page 310]You will also recall that in our discussions with Secretary General Hammarskjold concerning the application of the Headquarters Agreement we assured him that decisions concerning the necessity for exclusion of certain persons covered by the Headquarters Agreement, including Secretariat officials, would be taken only after consideration of the case at the highest levels within the U.S. Government. Accordingly it appears unwise and inappropriate to request that he withdraw the appointment of the subject on the basis of the preliminary finding made in this case. This is especially true because of the fact that the subject is head of the Foreign Relations Department, Egyptian State Broadcasting, and thus presumably has the backing of the Egyptian Government for his candidacy for a Secretariat job. Further, we assured the Secretary General that we would furnish him with such information as possible to support any finding of inadmissibility which was made and, in the present case, we have not been authorized to transmit any supporting information.
In view of the delay which has already occurred, I would hope that you can give urgent consideration to this matter so that a final decision concerning the subject’s admissibility or inadmissibility can be made promptly. In this connection, UN officials have informally advised USUN of the Organization’s urgent need for the subject’s services. (USUN Tel No. 269, Nov. 23, 1953).3
I am not in a position to pass on the merits of this case, but it does appear on one reading that it ought to be possible to obtain additional information concerning the subject’s alleged Communist Party membership, if necessary going directly to the Egyptian Foreign Office on a confidential basis.
My only other suggestion with reference to the merits of the case is that it appears possible that the Cairo Consulate is equating Communist Party membership, which is dealt with by subparagraph (28) of Section 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, with inadmissibility under subparagraph (29). It is my understanding that this is not the intention of the Act for, if it were, then no nationals of Communist Bloc Governments could be admitted to this country as Secretariat officials. I think it would be helpful to have the Legal Adviser take a look at this.
Finally, should it be decided that we ought to attempt to dissuade the Secretary General from this appointment, I trust that we will be furnished with information which we can submit to the Secretary General in support of our position.