320.2AA/11–150
Memorandum by the Secretary of State to the President
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees has submitted a report to the General Assembly recommending a program for the period July 1, 1951 to June 30, 1952. This Agency has been carrying out a relief and works program in the Near East along the lines recommended by the United Nations Economic Survey Mission to the Middle East, headed by Mr. Gordon Clapp, and approved by the General Assembly in December, 1949.
The recommended program calls for the creation of a reintegration fund which can be used by the Agency for projects to reestablish refugees and remove them from the relief rolls. The amount requested for this fund for the fiscal year 1952 is $30,000,000. The report of the Agency makes the following statement regarding this fund:
“The establishment of the fund of $30 million constitutes a first step (without commitment as to the future) in a major undertaking to reintegrate the majority of over three quarters of a million refugees, which may ultimately entail the expenditure of several hundred million dollars over a period of years.”
The Agency also recommends that $20,000,000 be made available for the necessary continuation of direct relief, during fiscal 1952, for refugees who have not been reestablished.
The Department must instruct the Delegation to the General Assembly on this matter which, unexpectedly, has just been scheduled for consideration November 1.
[Page 1040]The work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in the Near East during the past five months has stimulated thinking among the Arab Governments on the possibilities of finding an economic solution to the refugee problem. It is hoped that this in turn may lead to a political solution. The reintegration fund would be available for refugee resettlement in Israel as well as in the Arab States. There is evidence that the fund could be used to advantage for this stated purpose.
The Department considers that the proposed program is an important step toward settlement of differences outstanding between Israel and the Arab States, as it looks toward removal of the issue raised by the refugees. The program has in the past received strong support on humanitarian grounds, and the plight of the refugees, now entering their third winter, becomes more desperate than ever. We cannot overlook the threat to stability raised by this mass of homeless people, fertile ground for the spread of Communist dissidence in this sensitive and strategic area.
When this program was considered in 1949 and 1950, it was strongly supported by the Department of Defense. We understand that the views of the Defense Department are unchanged and that Defense agrees that we should continue effective measures to prevent this body of refugees, numbering 800,000 people, from becoming a graver menace to the stability of the area.
In the past the United States has agreed to contribute 50% of the estimated costs of the program. The Department expects to submit to you a firm recommendation regarding the United States contribution for the fiscal year 1952 at an early date.
Proposals for grants in aid to Near Eastern States are currently under consideration within the Government. The Department considers that such a bilateral program of grant aid is necessary as a concurrent measure. Reestablishment of the refugees cannot be successfully achieved unless the economies of the Near East are expanding in such a way as to provide employment opportunities throughout the entire economy. Grant aid is estimated to require provision of $25,000,000 during fiscal 1952. In the execution of the two programs, administrative arrangements can provide for due coordination.
Recommendation:
That the Department be authorized to instruct the Delegation to support the recommendations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the General Assembly.1
- Marginal notation by President Truman: “Approved 11/1/50”.↩