§ 49. Mr. Sorensenasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what further information he has from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency on action taken to resettle Arab refugees.
§ Mr. EdenFollowing on the United Nations General Assembly approving the Agency's $250 million programme of relief and resettlement, the Director of the Agency has been in negotiation with the Jordan and Syrian Governments. He has submitted programmes to the Governments of Syria and Jordan and these are now under consideration.
The programme for Jordan includes short-term projects for irrigation works, rural and urban housing (the latter for refugees with jobs but no homes) and industrial development; it also includes provision for surveys and training for larger and longer term projects. A geophysical survey of suitable areas of the Sinai Peninsula, where the Egyptian Government have agreed to the settlement of 50,000 refugees if satisfactory water supplies can be found, has now been completed, and test boring is in progress on the most likely sites.