840.48 Refugees/1954
Statement Issued by the Department of State, October 18, 1939
Upon the invitation of President Roosevelt the officers of the Intergovernmental Committee met at the White House on October 17, 1939. The Secretary of State opened the second meeting at the Department of State on the afternoon of October 17 and a third meeting was held on the morning of October 18 when the Committee adjourned until Thursday, October 26, 1939. Those who attended the meeting included Lord Winterton, Chairman and Paymaster General in the [Page 152] British Government; Sir Herbert Emerson, Director; the Honorable Myron C. Taylor, Vice-Chairman representing the United States of America; His Excellency Felipe Espil, the Argentine Ambasador; His Excellency Count de Saint-Quentin, the French Ambassador; His Excellency Mr. Carlos Martins, the Brazilian Ambassador; Dr. A. Loudon, the Netherlands Minister; and Mr. James G. McDonald, Chairman of the President’s Advisory Committee on Political Refugees.
The meeting, at the second session, heard a report on the current refugee situation by the Director and discussed the various ways in which the refugee problem might be met. Particular attention was given to the new aspects of the situation due to the outbreak of war.
At the third session, the officers discussed what President Roosevelt had described in his opening statement as the “short-range problem”, including the problem of emigrating those individuals and families who are at this moment in countries of temporary refuge and who, for the sake of the world and themselves, should be placed in permanent domiciles as rapidly as possible.
The meeting was of the opinion that this problem could still best be solved partly by infiltration, that is individual immigration, and partly by an initiation of settlement projects. The meeting took note, with particular satisfaction, of the fact that the Dominican Government, with great foresight and generosity, had responded to the appeal of the Intergovernmental Committee for opportunities of settlement. The meeting also heard with satisfaction that the Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines had responded in a similar manner. Mr. McDonald reported that engineering and economic studies had recently been completed and that practical steps, including financing, in the initiation of settlement were being taken.
The meeting was informed that similar studies in other areas would be undertaken promptly.
The Committee also took note of the fact that the Coordinating Foundation, whose Executive President, Mr. Paul van Zeeland, will be present at the meeting next week, is mandated to work with individuals and organizations to investigate the suitability of places of settlement and future resettlement plans.
A tribute was paid by the meeting to the unstinted generosity over a period of years of the private organizations.