Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, Arab-Israeli Dispute, 1957, Volume XVII

323. Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs (Wilcox) to the Under Secretary of State (Herter)¹

Washington, May 10, 1957.

SUBJECT

• Palestine Refugees: Status Report and Recommendations

Discussion:

As of June 30, 1956, refugees from Palestine registered with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) numbered over 922,000, over half under fifteen years of age. This constitutes a growth over those registered during previous years and illustrates the fact that natural increase among the refugees is greater than decrease through transfer to conditions of self-support.

The failure so far to approach a political solution to the refugee problem is due primarily to the continued insistence on the part of the refugees that the only answer is through repatriation or compensation, as provided by the General Assembly’s resolution of December 11, 1948.² In this they have been encouraged by the host governments, which have shown a continued disposition to resist any attempts to reach a solution of the problem other than through repatriation or compensation. The host governments have, in fact, often seized upon the refugee problem as a means of furthering their own political ends. This approach has resulted, generally, in a negative attitude on the part of these governments toward rehabilitation projects and in their failure to cooperate fully with UNRWA in its attempts to provide for the welfare of the refugees.

FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS

A more immediate problem is the financial one. Unless more outstanding current pledges are paid, the Director of the Agency estimates that it will not have sufficient funds to operate at its present level through June 1957. Furthermore, the Director estimates that cuts in the Agency’s services appear to be inevitable unless increased contributions are received during the second half of this calendar year. He has indicated that the necessary retrenchment might be made through curtailing the Agency’s education program and possibly other services. Heretofore there has been available to the Agency a cushion in the form of unexpended moneys in its rehabilitation fund, part of which was used for the educational program. This fund now is virtually exhausted.

The United States contributes to UNRWA under the authority of the Mutual Security Act.³ While our publicly stated position to the host governments is that we will not contribute over 65 percent, the United States has actually contributed approximately 70 percent of UNRWA’s cash resources in recent years. This limitation has its basis in the history of Congressional hearings, and we so far have considered it inadvisable to increase this proportion. The United States’ pledges for the current fiscal (US) year are $4,000,000 toward the Agency’s rehabilitation fund and $17,500,000 toward its relief fund. The United States has contributed $2,372,000 to the rehabilitation fund and $16,263,940 (including a payment now in process) to the relief fund during the current fiscal year. There appears to be less likelihood that outstanding rehabilitation fund pledges will be made good than outstanding relief fund pledges. The United States could pay the balance ($1,236,000) of its pledge toward the relief fund if additional outstanding pledges of $530,130 were made good by other governments.

The Director of the Agency⁴ has asked that the United States consider paying its entire relief pledge now. He has suggested that this would be possible without going over the 70 percent limit if contributions in services supplied by host governments were taken into account or if we were to assume as paid certain unpaid pledges from reliable sources. We do not believe it is desirable to consider as part of the total contributions, of which we can pay up to 70 percent, the services and other intangibles which the host governments might have provided. The main reason is that we would have no way on which to check the evaluation of the services provided by the host governments.

We have asked the Director for a report on the current status of his negotiations with potential contributors. Upon receipt of this information, we could approach those governments to urge them to make good their pledges. However, the political consequences of any breakdown in UNRWA’s activities now are likely to be so unfavorable as to warrant our taking unusual steps to insure the funds necessary to a maintenance of the Agency’s current level of activities until some other solution is found. This could be achieved during the balance of the fiscal year by a removal of the 70 percent limit on United States contributions which would require consultation with Congress. (It should be recognized that such a step would probably affect the continuation of the present contribution pattern and should not be undertaken without a realization that funds heretofore available from other governments may have to be sought elsewhere.) Moreover, after July 1, some means would have to be devised to increase the contributions to UNRWA.

RECENT APPROACHES TO PROBLEM

The mandate of the Agency is due to expire on June 30, 1960. During the eleventh General Assembly there was considerable sentiment among contributor members to anticipate the eventual termination of UNRWA by requesting the Director, in consultation with the host governments, to devise means for the orderly and gradual turnover to the host governments, of the functions now being performed by UNRWA. However, the opposition of the Arab members (and, unexpectedly and suddenly, the Director of UNRWA) to any resolution containing such a request was such that further consideration of it had to be deferred. The resolution as finally adopted by the General Assembly directed the Agency to pursue its program, bearing in mind its financial limitations; requested the host governments to cooperate fully with the Agency; requested the governments of the area to cooperate with the Director in planning and carrying out the projects capable of supporting substantial numbers of refugees; authorized the Director to disburse any moneys that might be available in the Agency’s rehabilitation fund to the host governments for general economic development projects, provided the host governments would assume financial responsibility for an agreed number of refugees within a fixed period of time; and provided for measures to seek continued or increased contributions.⁵ From the General Assembly debate on the resolution it was clear that the refugee problem, despite its humanitarian aspects, is still basically a political problem. The United States policy on the refugee problem was expressed by the Secretary on August 26, 1955,⁶ namely that the United States would be prepared to participate substantially in an international loan to Israel for the purpose of enabling Israel to pay compensation to the displaced refugees, and that the United States would also be ready to assist in the development of regional projects which would, directly or indirectly, facilitate in the settlement of refugees. (Tab A)⁷

Recommendations:

1. That it be decided it is an overriding political necessity not to permit UNRWA’s operations to lapse.

2. That, upon receipt of the information requested from the Director, we approach governments having outstanding pledges in an effort to seek full payment from them before June 30, 1957.

3. That, in anticipation that Recommendation (2) might not succeed, you authorize the interested areas of the Department to work out now a method of underwriting UNRWA’s most pressing immediate financial needs so as to give effect to Recommendation (1).

4. That the interested Bureaus in the Department should as a matter of urgency consider what should be the United States policy toward the future of the refugees with particular reference to the fiscal problems of the Agency immediately after July 1, 1957, and to planning for the forthcoming debate in the General Assembly on this matter.⁸

1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 320.511/5–1057. Confidential. Drafted by Gamon. The following officers concurred in the memorandum: Rountree, Robert J. McCollum (ORM) in substance, Louis E. Frechtling (U/MSA), Elmer M. Falk (IO/OIA) in draft, O’Connor (H), and Edward J. Rowell (IO/OES) in substance. Although the source text indicates that O’Connor wrote a memorandum on the subject appended as Tab B, the document is not attached to the source text.
2. Resolution 194 (III).
3. 70 Stat. 558.
4. Henry R. Labouisse.
5. Resolution 1108 (XI), adopted by a vote of 68 in favor to 0 opposed, with 1 (Iraq) abstention by the U.N. General Assembly on February 28, 1957, was the revised version (U.N. doc. A/SPC/L.13/Rev.2) of a joint resolution introduced by Argentina, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, and the United States on February 22. (U.N. doc. A/SPC/L.13) On February 13, the Department of State first sent to the Mission in New York a proposed text of a draft resolution. (Telegram 627 to USUN, February 13; Department of State, Central Files, 320.511/1–3157) During discussions with Delegations from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Indonesia, New Zealand, the Philippines, and the United Kingdom and negotiations with Arab countries, the U.S. draft was revised several times before being tabled in the General Assembly. Documentation concerning U.S. activities in behalf of the draft resolution are ibid., 320.51 and 320.511. For texts of statements made by Mrs. Oswald B. Lord, U.S. Representative to the General Assembly, in the Special Political Committee, see Department of State Bulletin, April 8, 1957, pp. 585–589.
6. For text of the address, see ibid., September 5, 1955, pp. 378–380. See also vol. XIV, pp. 378 ff.
7. Not attached to the source text.
8. Herter initialed his approval on the source text. See also Document 327.