§ Mr. Hylton-Fosterasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will allow the admission to this country of a blind refugee, of whom he has been informed, from Europe provided that the requisite funds for the refugee's maintenance and training are guaranteed by an approved body; and if he will make a statement.
§ Sir D. Maxwell FyfeThis refugee, who is aged only 25, is in a home for the blind in Austria. Though some funds in aid of his maintenance and training here have been generously offered, I am advised that they would not cover more than the first three or four years of his residence, and he would thereafter be, to a considerable extent, a charge on public funds. When the scheme for admitting to the United Kingdom up to 2,000 of the 199W refugees still in the care of the International Refugee Organisation was drawn up, it was decided that persons whose presence here would impose a long-continuing liability on public funds could not be included, and I have regretfully come to the conclusion that this principle must be maintained.