§ 8. Sir Arnold Wilsonasked the Prime Minister whether he is aware that the number of refugees still needing protection when the Nansen office and the High Commissioner's office in London has been liquidated at the end of the current year is 600,000 and that the problem connected therewith will be intensified by the closing down of the only international body capable of considering the problem in its international aspects; and whether, in these circumstances, he will initiate proposals to defer liquidation for a further 12 months?
§ Mr. ButlerOn 14th May the Council of the League of Nations adopted a report recommending that a single organisation should be set up for a limited period to take the place of the Nansen International Office and the High Commissioner for refugees coming from Germany, which in accordance with the decisions of the Assembly will be discontinued at the end of this year. The report also made recommendations as to the lines on which the new organisation should be constituted. The Council instructed the Secretary-General to prepare for the Assembly, after consultation with the President of the governing body of the Nansen International Office and the High Commissioner for refugees coming from Germany, a detailed plan on the basis of the proposals of the report, and to transmit the report and this detailed plan to the Assembly, which will have to take a decision on the subject at its next ordinary session.
§ Sir A. WilsonDoes that reply indicate that the Government are prepared to support in principle this new proposal?
§ Mr. ButlerI think I can say that.