§ 7. Major Beamishasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he is now in a position to make a statement about the overlapping organisations dealing with refugee migration problems in different parts of the world.
§ The Joint Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Anthony Nutting)No, Sir. I should prefer to await the outcome of the meeting of the Advisory Committee to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees which will take place at the end of April.
§ Major BeamishCan my hon. Friend say when he is likely to have a report on this matter? Is he aware that, since I.R.O. came to an end, the United Nations and ourselves and several of the other free countries appear to have been to some extent at cross-purposes on this very important subject? May I press him to put himself in a position to be able to make a firm statement to the effect that we shall be able to work together in these matters before very long?
§ Mr. NuttingI certainly hope that any overlapping which may exist will be eliminated. I hope that the Advisory Committee, which is meeting at the end of April, may make recommendations to that effect. After consideration, I must admit that, in my opinion, the overlapping is more apparent than real, but it may be that, as a result of the growth of this problem, particularly in relation to Germany, some additional co-ordinating arrangements may prove to be necessary in the future.