§ Mr. Sorensenasked the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs whether he has been in communication with the Governments of Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, respecting the settlement of refugees; and what is the total number of refugees those Governments have intimated they are willing to accept?
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§ Sir T. InskipThe question of the admission of refugees into the Dominions is entirely a matter for the respective Dominion Governments. His Majesty's Governments in Canada, the Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand are themselves represented on the Inter-Governmental Committee which has under consideration the question of the settlement of refugees overseas.
As regards the last part of the question, as my predecessor stated in reply to a question on the 6th December, the Commonwealth Government have announced their willingness to accept 15,000 refugees over a term of three years. The other two Governments have not, so far as I am aware, made any announcement, but statements by Canadian and New Zealand statesmen indicate that they are fully alive to the importance and urgency of the question.