§ 50. Wing Commander Bullusasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs the extent of the financial help so far given by His Majesty's Government towards the settlement of the Arab refugees; and if he will make a statement as to international help.
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§ Mr. EdenHis Majesty's Government have so far contributed approximately £7,766,000 to the relief and resettlement of Arab refugees from Palestine. This amount includes the contribution offered for the 1951–52 programme of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. In addition, His Majesty's Government, in 1949, made an interest-free loan of £1 million to the Jordan Government for economic development and the resettlement of refugees, and they propose to make a further interest-free loan of £1,500,000 to the same Government.
As regards international help, I am glad to inform the House that the United Nations General Assembly, on 26th January, endorsed a three-year programme of relief and resettlement for the period July, 1951, to June, 1954, costing $250 million. The aim of this programme, which is without prejudice to the rights of refugees as regards repatriation and compensation, is to make them self-supporting as soon as possible by providing them with homes and work. The virtually unanimous support which the programmes received from the General Assembly and, in particular, the approval given to it by the delegations of the Middle East Governments concerned augur well for the success of the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which is responsible for the execution of the plan.
I warmly welcome this progress in dealing with a problem, upon the solution of which all progress with political problems in the Middle East so largely depends.