International > Nansen International Office for Refugees (under the authority of the League of Nations)

[Communicated to the Assembly,
the Council and the Members
of the League.]
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Official No. : A. 1 9. 1939. XII.
LEAGUE OF NATIONS
REPORT BY M. MICHAEL HANSSON, FORMER PRESIDENT
OF THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE NANSEN INTERNATIONAL
OFFICE FOR REFUGEES, ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE OFFICE FROM
JULY 1st TO DECEMBER 31st, 1938
By its resolution adopted on September 30th, 1938, the Assembly of the League of
Nations, at its nineteenth session, noted that, in pursuance of former resolutions, the
Nansen International Office for Befugees was to cease its activities on December 31st, 1938.
Numerous reports have been submitted on the work of the Nansen Office, and
accordingly all that is needed now is to give some information as to the work done during
the last six months of its existence. Besides the annual reports of the Governing Body,
reference should be made to the special report which I submitted to the 1936 Assembly,
giving as full and precise an account as possible of the refugee problem with which the
Nansen Office had to deal then, and the report on the liquidation of the Office which I prepared
and which was adopted by the Council of the League of Nations on May 25th, 1937.
I would add that the Nansen Office continued its activities to the last, in general
conformity with the plan adopted by the Governing Body as set forth in the two special
reports for 1936 and 1937.
(a) As a result of recent events in Central Europe, the refugee problem became even
more complicated. After the incorporation of Austria in the German Beich, the
representative in that country was obliged to terminate his activities. Similarly, work in
Czecho-Slovakia was hindered by the annexation of the Sudeten territories. Lastly, the
problems raised by refugees from Germany have had serious effects on the work undertaken
on behalf of “ Nansen ” refugees.
(b) It was mentioned in the 1938 report that the work of settling Armenian refugees
in Syria and the Lebanon had been completed, in so far as the Nansen Office was concerned,
and that the National Armenian Belief Union, with financial assistance from the Office,
had been instructed to build the last of the dwellings required for the most indigent families.
This relief work has since been continued, and before the Office was closed, it was able
to make a further grant of 21,000 Swiss francs.
It may also be hoped that the agreement recently concluded between France and
Turkey on the subject of the Sanjak of Alexandretta will enable an equitable settlement to
be reached in the question of the property, rights and interests of the Armenians domiciled
in that area.
(c) The naturalisation of some 1,800 Bussian refugees from Turkey who have been
accepted by the Turkish Government has now been completed.
As regards the group of some 150 refugees who had to be evacuated from Istanbul
as a preliminary condition for the naturalisation of their fellow-countrymen, the last
Assembly was informed that, of upwards of eighty persons provisionally admitted to the
Greek island of Syra (where they were wholly supported by the Office), there remained
sixteen for whom no transfer had yet been arranged, because there was nowhere for them
to go. As the result of a final approach by the Office to the Norwegian and Swedish
Governments, each of these countries decided to accept five more refugees, on condition
that the other six should be settled elsewhere. In view of this decision, the Greek
Government — which had already permanently accepted a number of refugees from
Turkey — generously consented to authorise these six persons to remain on its territory.
4180 — S. d. N. 1.205 (F.) 1.080 (A.) 8/39 — Imp
XII.B. INTERNATIONAL BUREAUX
1939. XII. B. 2.
Series of League of Nations Publications
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