International > Special report submitted to the seventeenth Assembly of the League of Nations

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1. The Council of the League of Nations was good enough, by its decision of January 24th,
1936, to appoint me Acting President of the Nansen International Office for Refugees as from
February 1st. At the same time, it instructed me to initiate any reforms or adaptations which
might be required in the internal management of the Office or its representation abroad, as also
in connection with its general activities (relations with Governments, settlement, emigration and
assistance, juridical status, etc.), and to submit a special report to the Assembly with a revised
winding-up programme on constructive lines.
I need not enter into a detailed discussion of the refugee problem. I need only refer to the
report of the Committee on International Assistance to Refugees, in which all the previous work
on this subject is set out and to which is also annexed a special survey of the principal legal aspects
of the question.1
As regards the various details of the present position of the Nansen International Office,
I would refer to the report of the Governing Body for the year ending June 30th, 1936.2
2. Without wishing to minimise in any way the immense importance of the League’s
activities in other fields, it is my duty to lay particular stress on the humanitarian side of its work
as carried on, first by the High Commissioner, Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, and then by the Nansen
International Office.
I cannot believe that the League of Nations will abandon this noble task before it is finally
completed. If the Assembly were to entrust to me definitely the direction of the Office, I would
endeavour loyally to carry out its wishes—namely, to wind up the Office by the end of 1938.
Nevertheless, although I am sure that very appreciable progress can be made to improve the
situation of the refugees from an economic and social point of view—provided the Governments
concerned assist—it is certain that on the date in question much will still remain to be done, quite
apart from the indispensable international protection of refugees, far beyond 1938. I will refer
to this aspect of the question later.
3. Immediately on my arrival at Geneva at the beginning of February, I made it my duty
to acquaint myself with the working of the Nansen Office and its activities, the progress of which
I watched from day to day, though reserving the right to deal myself with questions of principle
and questions involving correspondence with the authorities of the various countries with which
the Office was in contact or when any personal representations had to be made to these countries.
I felt that it would be very desirable to establish personal contact, so far as possible, with
Ministers for Foreign Affairs and their colleagues or collaborators in order to explain the Office’s
views and dispel all the misunderstandings and false ideas which had arisen with regard to an
undertaking of which the situation is so delicate and the duties are so complex.
At the invitation of the League of Nations Union and the Save the Children Fund, I delivered
in May a number of lectures in England on the refugee problem.
The results obtained to date are very satisfactory, and I am glad to have this opportunity
to express my gratitude for the welcome accorded me by the high officials both of the Secretariat
of the League of Nations and of the International Labour Office, and by the various authorities
with whom I had to deal in Paris, London and Brussels. The French authorities’ sympathy with
the work of the Nansen Office was given practical expression by the grant of generous subsidies.
4. As regards the work of the Central Office, though I soon realised the commendable zeal
shown by its staff, I have not yet been able, at the moment of writing, to come to any final decision
on certain reforms and administrative readjustments which will be needed if the vast and complex
duties which the Office has had to undertake are to be successfully discharged. This point must
be fully reserved. It is, however, obvious, in my opinion, that to wind up the Office before the end
of 1938 will involve an ever-increasing amount of work and, far from enabling expenditure to be
cut down, will, on the contrary, probably lead to fresh demands.
As the general report of the Office to the Assembly shows, the credit granted for the present
year to the Nansen Office by the League of Nations is 270,000 Swiss francs, including 20,000 Swiss
francs for the Saar refugees. This sum is really very small in the light of the work accomplished
and the special circumstances to which I have referred.
5. The Office operates abroad mainly through its representatives and correspondents, to the
number of eighteen. Some of the representatives and their employees are remunerated; other
representatives or correspondents act in what is really an honorary capacity and only receive
an office allowance.
I do not think there could be any question at the present time of dispensing with the services
of any of these persons, for the reason I have stated above—namely, that the decision to liquidate
the Office makes their assistance more necessary than ever.
There can also be no doubt that certain representatives have rendered signal service to the
Nansen Office and have greatly contributed to the happy solution of many difficulties. These
representatives are valuable, not merely because they have, in the countries I have in mind, made
it possible for us to overcome obstacles with comparative facility, but also because of their
encouragement of the refugees’ laudable efforts to repay regularly the advances granted to them.
It would seem that a qualified representative is able to create among the refugees a spirit of
loyalty and respect, which is in itself a precious achievement.
1 See document C.2.M.2.1936.XII.
2 See document A.23.1936.XII.