Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, The Near and Middle East, Volume IX, Part 1

IO files, lot 71 D 440

No. 657
Department of State Position Paper¹

confidential
SD/A/C.1/427

Washington, September 5, 1953.

Palestine Refugee Program

The Problem

The Palestine Refugee Program will be placed before the General Assembly in the Report of the Director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) or in the Joint Report of the Director and the Advisory Commission. These reports (not available until some time after the General Assembly opens) will require a position on the folllowing questions: (1) Continuation of the Program Beyond July 1, 1954; (2) the level of the relief budget for fiscal 1954; (3) the relief budget for fiscal 1955; (4) administration of relief; and (5) acceleration of refugee self-support projects.

United States Position

1. Introduce or support a proposal for the continuation of a relief and reintegration program for an additional two-year period.

2. Seek to hold relief expenditures for the fiscal period ending June 30, 1954 to $— —.

3. Support a relief budget for Fiscal 1955 of $18 million subject to modification by the Ninth Session of the General Assembly.

4. Support the Director’s proposal for the termination of health, education and welfare activities and their assumption by the local governments concerned, with financial and technical assistance from UNRWA, and call on the Agency to develop plans for the termination by January 1, 1955, of all UNRWA’s relief administration, including procurement of supplies and distribution, with a report thereon to the next (ninth) session of the General Assembly.

5. Point up to need for speedier action on large-scale projects for refugee self-support which will involve not only the effective cooperation of the Arab States but also a more determined attitude on the part of UNRWA, and emphasize the possibilities of moving ahead more rapidly on projects which do not present major obstacles.

Comment

1. Continuation of the Program Beyond July 1, 1954

Assembly Resolution 513 (VI), January 26, 1952, provided for a $250 million relief and reintegration program ending June 30, 1954, of which $200 million was for reintegration and $50 million for relief. The reintegration program has moved very slowly and larger sums than estimated have had to be provided for relief. The Assembly will be called upon to extend the time period of the program. The need to extend the program beyond June 30, 1954, is apparent and will not meet with resistance. Insofar as the United States position is concerned this point has been brought out in the hearings on the Palestine refugee problem before the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Near East and Africa. At that time Acting Secretary Bedell Smith held that a two-year extension would probably be needed. While efforts may be made to authorize a longer period, the United States should oppose Assembly authorization extending the UNRWA program 1956 and should insist upon a further general review at Assembly in 1955. In supporting the two-year extension, this should be done in terms of continuing the $200 million reintegration fund and of effective progress in the obligation of available funds for refugee benefits. In this connection the United States Delegation may allude to other sources of funds for economic development benefiting the peoples of the countries giving homes to refugees, including US grant funds available for this purpose.

2. Level of the Relief Budget for Fiscal 1954

In Resolution 614 (VII) of November 6, 1952 the General Assembly authorized URWA to adopt a budget for relief of $18 million for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1954, subject to review at the Eighth Session of the General Assembly. The Director has proposed to the Advisory Commission an increased relief budget for this period of over $26 million which assumes that relatively few refugees will become self-supporting until large-scale self-support projects get fully under way and which takes account of the natural increase in the refugee population for which provision had not previously been made. The Advisory Commission is now considering this plan of expenditure and it is possible that a lower figure will be submitted in the Joint Report of the Director and the Commission. The Department’s position on the amount of the relief budget has not yet been determined but it is hoped that reasonable cuts in the Director’s proposal may bring the relief budget down to $24 million.

3. Relief Budget for Fiscal 1955

The General Assembly will need to give a directive to the Agency concerning the level of relief costs for the fiscal period ending June 30, 1955. The Director has estimated relief costs for this period at $18 million. This appears to be a reasonable estimate at this time since it involves a sharp reduction. If work on projects moves more rapidly and large numbers of refugees are employed thereon, a further reduction might be effected at the next session, when the General Assembly can review this figure.

4. Administration of Relief

The Director proposes that the Arab Governments concerned undertake the administration of health, education and welfare activities carried on by UNRWA as of July 1, 1954, and that steps be taken by them to assume responsibility for procurement and distribution of relief supplies. An effort was made in the Sixth Session of the General Assembly to transfer responsibility for relief administration to the local governments but the Arabs successfully resisted this proposal. The time has come to renew efforts to get UNRWA out of relief administration and develop definite plans for the transfer of this task to the Arab Governments. The resolution should emphasize termination of UNRWA’s administration, but avoid mention of transfer of responsibility to the local governments, since they will not voluntarily accept such responsibility.

5. Acceleration of Refugee Self-Support Projects

Progress in obtaining agreements with Arab Governments for large-scale self-support projects has been slow. This factor, combined with the time involved for engineering surveys and decisions on specific projects has seriously retarded UNRWA’s timetable. A major project being surveyed in Jordan regarding the use of the Jordan-Yarmuk waters has involved difficult engineering studies and raises political difficulties between the Arab states and Israel. The United States should call attention to the extensive US interest manifested by Congress in the Report on the Palestine Refugee Problem by the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee.² This report emphasizes that unless considerably more progress is shown in the near future than up to the present time, the Congress would not be justified in indefinite continuation of aid for this program.

1. For the instruction of the U.S. Delegation to the Eighth Regular Session of the U.N. General Assembly. This document was supplemented by a further position paper of Oct. 15, Document 688.
2. See footnote 2, Document 648.