A/1/PV.67 General Assembly

According to the agenda we should continue with the discussion of the reports of the: Third and Fifth Committees on the refugee question (annexes 96 and 97). I call upon Mr. Martin, representative of Canada. Mr. MARTIN (Canada): Following as I do the representative of the Soviet Union at this rostrum, and after listening to his speech, I would remind the Assembly not to forget the great words of that great woman, Mrs. Roosevelt, when she introduced the discussion which is now under way. Everything that has been said by the last speaker mayor may not be true, may or may not be accurate, but it hardly touches the issue which I think we are called upon to deal with in considering the proposed constitution of the International Refugee Organization. Let us recall certain words of Mrs. Roosevelt, speaking in the name of the United States. This As.~embly has before it perhaps no greater problem requiring immediate action. The gl'eat issues of disarmament, the veto and th~ like have a long-term value and are of great importance, but we are dealing now, immediately, as she said, with one of the unfinished tasks of the war and it would not do for us to debate this issue much longer. Over a million people are looking to us for some determined action to determine their fate. As Mrs. Rooseve1t said, we are not passing judgment on the plan to take care of refugees. That plan will be submitted for final approval, or rejection by Governments. But we have now had a long, interminable discussion on the constitution of the IRa, in which those who have had varying views have had an opportunity of presenting them. President: M. P.-H. SPAAK (Belgique). 205. Refugies et personnes deplacees. Rapport de la Troisieme Commission. Resolutions (d«ument A / 2 6 5 ) • Questions flnancieres et budgetaires concemant l'Organisation intemaflonale pour les refugies. Rapport de IQ Cinquit~me Commission. Resolution (document A/27S) (suite de la disc-ussion) Le PREsIDENT: L'ordre du jour appelle la suite de la discussion des rapports des Troisieme et Cinquieme Comm' .ons sur la question des refugies (annexes 96 et 9i). Je donne la parole a M. Martin, representant du Canada. M. MARTIN (Canada) (traduit de {'anglair): Comme je prends la parole apres le rcp~­ tant de l'Union Sovietique dont j'ai ecoute attentivement le discours, je voudrais demander a ceUe Assemblee de ne pas oublier les fortes paroles que cette femme de ca:ur qu'est Mme Roosevelt a prononcecs lorsqu'dle a ouvert la discussion qui se dcroule 3ctuclIement. Tout ce que le demier orateur a dit peut tre vrai ou faux, exact ou inexact, mais it n'a fait qu'effieurer le probleme que, it. mon avis, nous avons a traiter en examinant le projel de constitution de l'OrganL'l3tion internationah: pour les refugies. Rappe1ons-nou.'l certaines paroles que Mme Roosevelt a prononcees au nom des f:tats-Unis. Si 1'on envi'iage le; taches qui demandent, de la part de l'Assemblee, radoption de: meclurts immediates, il me semble que panni le<l problbno dont eIle est sai.'iie, il n'y en a pent-ctre pas de plus important que celui qui nous occupe. Lcs grandes questions du d6armerncnt, le veto et les autres problemes du meme genre garderont longtemps encore leur importance, et leuT portb: est grande; mais noUB avoIlS a traiter actueUement, immediatement, pour reprendre les lermc:s de Mme Roosevelt. llne tache encore inach~'ee parmi celles que la guerre nous a imJX*c:s; i1 ne convient done pas d'en prolons::cr trap longtemps la discussion. Plus d'un million de per-- sonnes ant les yeux fixes sur nous, escompt:ant de notre part une action pre.cise qui decidera de 1eur sort. Mme Roosevelt I'a dit, uousne nous pronon!,ons pas sur le programme ctabli pour l'aide au.'C refugies, programme qui sera solunis aux Gouvemements auxquels il appartiendra de l'approuver ou de le rejeter de fa~on definitive. En tout cas nom venous d'avoir nne tongue, une intenninable discussion sur la constitution de rOIR au COUI'S de laquelle les different.'! points de vue ant pu s'cxprimer. There is no question, in the IRO or in its proposed constitution, of interfering with the right of voluntary repatriation. That right is sacredly observed; but on the other hand, while that right is observed, it ie; also insisted that there shall be no group of people within the refugee class who shall be forcibly repatriated. Surely those two principles, the one of voluntary repatriation and the other that there should be no compulsory repatriation, are two principles which would be basic in the operations of any international assembly. There is no decision, nor is it intended, .in the constitution of the IRO, to give to men and women who have proved themselves quislings or traitors the advantages enjoyed by other persons in the refugee camps. Those people will be subjected to proper examination to determine whether or not they can be accused of having been quislings or traitors. What it is proposed to do in this constitution, in essence purely, is nothing more than to meet the immediate problem of giving relief to a million men and women in the world who have the right to ask an international assembly not to overlook their position. I joined with the representative of the Soviet Union and with a great number of other cguntries in urging the United States and the United Kingdom to set up a post-war relief organization on an international basis. I do not think any country was more active in that plea than Canada. Is it too much that I should renew that plea to others in respect of another problem which requires, I think, international action? If there was justification for urging post-war relief after the cessation of the operations of UNRRA, then international organization should follow as a consequence. Is it too much to ask that this vital problem-and that is what it isshould be tackled by international organization and international action? Our delegation ·has had the opportunity, in the Third Committee, of expressing its views on the various articles of the IRO constitution and has done so. It is only because we attach ~o much importance to this subject that I think It is essential that we state here, in this plenary session, our reasons for voting in favour of the IRO, as we have done in the Committee and During the long discussions ~hich have. been held in the Third and the FIfth CommIttees, our delegation has consistently supported the establishment of the IRQ. I reIterate that again: our belief is that this matter should be dealt with as early as possible and on an international basis. Hundreds of thousands of people-and one cannot underline that. too. much-hundreds of thousands of human bemgs, now in Europe and in the Fat East, are watching with vital interest the action which the United Nations is going to take in this matter. I have used the word "vital" not as a mere figure of speech but in its true sense, for the very lives of many of these people may depend on what course we adopt. This is true not only with regard to the approval of the report but even more so with regard to the willingness of Governments to implement these decisions by participating fully in the functions of the new organization. This question has been heateclly debated, in many places. All points of view have been expressed, and all Member Nations including a number of States who have indicated that they do not intend to vote in favour of the IRQ constitution, have had a hand in its drafting. Surely it is now time for us to pass on from the stage of committees and sub-committees and drafting sub-committees to the stage of positive action. So far scarcely a single refugee has actually been aided by the United Nations, despite the millions of words which have been spoken saying how urgent and how necessary this problem is. These words are true but they do not in themselves solve anything. Enough words have been spoken. Let us then get" on with the great social task which is before us. Is our course of action as the United Nations intended to deal with problems of an international character not clear? The General' Assemblymust first of all, and I am sure it will, approve this report calling on Member Nations to sign the constitution of the IRQ and the . protocol on interim arrangements. By voting favourably on this report we come nearer to the' action I have mentioned, but lying ahead' still . will be the difficult problem of having a sufficient number of States sign and approve the constitution to bring it into force. In order to do so, as the constitution now stands, fifteen States, whose required contributions to part 1 of the operational budget must not be less than seventy-five per cent of the total, must become parties to it. 1 have said enough concerning the urgency of this problem and of the necessity for giving practical implementation to the constitution and the interim arrangements. I want to say one word about Canada's specific attitude towards the constitution itself. We voted for the constitution in the Third Committee, but in doing so we made it plain that it contained certain clauses which we did not like and which we had spoken against during the Committee debates. One such clause is the amendment to article X, paragraph f, providing that contributions to large- ~cale resettlement expenditures shall be on ,l voluntary basis. This is against the principle which the Canadian delegation hoped to see adopted, that is, that contributions to all the various budgets of the IRO should be on an obligatory basis according to the scales contained in annex n. We stated then, and I again state now, that the new International Refugee Organization will not be able to carry non-paying pac;sengers, and that each State which signs and approves the constitution should be prepared to contribute both financially and in other ways to its implementation. For this reason we put forward an amendment co the article regarding the coming into force of the constitution which would have prevented States from approving the constitution while· making financial reservations. The Third Committee saw fit to reject this amendment. We believe this was a mistake but we shall, nevertheless vote for the. constitution. For we are aware 'that it is a compromise between fifty-four States and that on specific points many individ- Oll plus apres la decision de l'Assemblee generale? QueUe serait pendant cette periode la situation des refugies et des personnes deplacees? Dix-huit mois, c'est bien long, et qui peut croire que pendant cette periode l'amertume et le scepticisme n'envahiront pas les camps et les personnes qui s'y trouvent? Beaucoup d'cntre eHes vivent depuis des annees dans leur condition presente, Si les Gouvernements Membres tardent a agir, apres l'adoption de la resolution, il est bien acraindre que les consequences sociales de ce retard aient des repercussions dans le monde entier et qu'cHes en aient aussi de profondes en ce qui concernc les Nations Unies. J'ai suffisamment parle du caractere d'urgence que presente ce probleme et de la necessite de donner effet dans le domaine pratique a la constitution et aux arrangements provisoires. J'ajouterai un mot au sujet de l'attitude particuliere du Canada a l'egard de la constitution elle-meme. Nous avons, a la Troisieme Commission, vote la constitution, roais ce faisant, nous avons precise qu'elle contenait ccrtaines clauses qui nous deplaisaient et contre lesqueHes nous nous etions cleves au cours des debats en Commission. Comme exemple d'une clause de ce genre, il y a l'amendement au paragraphe 4 de l'article X, aux termes duguel les contributions des Etats aux depenses afferentes aux grands projets de rcetablissement seront volontaires. Cette disposition est en contradiction avec le principe que la delegation canadienne esperait voir adopter, asavoir que les contributions aux divers budgets de l'OIR devraient etre des contributions obligatoires, Jeur montant etant determine par le bareme qui figure a l'Annexe n. Nous avons declare a ce moment, et je tiens a le repeter maintenant, que la nouveHe Organisation pour les refugies ne peut accepter des membres non payants, et que tout Etat qui signe et approuve la constitutiondoit etre pret a contribuer, tant financierementque par d'autres moyens, a sa mise en reuvre. C'est pour cette .raison qu'a l'article relatif a l'entree en vigueur de la constitution, nous avions proppse un amendement dont l'objet ctait de mettre les Etats dans l'impossibilite d'approuver la constitution tout en formulant des reserves quelconques en'matiere financiere. ' La Troisieme Commission a cru devoirrepousser cet amendement. Nous sommes persuades que ,ce fut une erreur, mais nous n'en voterons pas moins la constitution, sachant qu'elle reprcsente Another amendment against which the Canadian delegation spoke, and which we thought it was unwise for the Third Committee to adopt was that which is now contained in annex I, paragraph 1 (g) concerning general principles. This amendment would prohibit the IRO from resettling or re-establishing refugees in Non-Self-Governing Territories if such plans were opposed by States adjacent to .the Non- Self-Governing Territory concerned. The Canadian delegation believes that the IRO should function in such a way as not to disturb friendly relations between the nations. Yet, with regard to the clause I have just referred to, I have some apprehension that its effect will be to greatly curtail the resettlement operations of the IRO. These are two examples of amendments which were adopted against what we thought would have been a wiser course. There are several others but it would be unnecessary to enumerate them at this time. Our position is clear. Like nearly every delegation in the Third Committee there are certain things about the IRO and its constitution which we do not like. Yet, in spite of this, we voted in favour of it because we thought that it did provide machinery which could and should be set lip to deal with this tremendous humanitarian problem on an international basis. Some other delegations took a different line and stated that, in effect, because their amendments had not been adopted, they would not approve the constitution. In my view we cannot afford, in our deliberations, to overlook the fact that any document and any resolution approved by fifty-four States is a compromise and that there will be parts of it which we may all dislike individually. But a spirit of compromise must prevail if we are going to do the job. We regard the IRO constitution as a guide for future operations rather than as an unchangeable text. The constitution provides for its own amendment under the clauses of article XVI. Meanwhile we conceive its proper role to be that of a contract drawn up between friends to guide them in their joint efforts in dealing with a great world social pI'Oblem. It is in this spirit that my country voted in favour of the constitution before, and it is in this spirit that we shall vote again today. I have made clear the position my delegation intends to tak~ and its reasons. I have only one word to add. Above all, we want to emphasize the necessity of making the IRO a reality and not merely a legal fiction. Here is one way of dealing with a great international problem under

i call upon Mr. Amado, representative of Brazil. 'Mr. AMADO (Brazil) (translated from French): The constitution of the International Refugee Organization, as adopted by the Third Committee, marks the completion of long and arduous efforts to set up international machinery which will enable us to co-operate in solving such a heart-breaking problem as the one created by the material devastation wrought in Europe and certain parts of Asia. We have here a human drama, and in its depth and bitterness lie hidden certain dangerolls factors which make for political misunderstandings and economic strife. We have come to tIus Assembly with the conviction that any delay in remedying the situation created by the problem of the masses of refugees in the camps would only prolong these misunderstandings, increase suspicion and foster a source of unrest and instability in the heart of Europe. The present constitution is the outcome of nearly twelve months' discussion. This instrument. as we realize onlY too well, is bv no means ,perfe~t. But although' all the variotis points of view have only been put forward approximately, it would be unjust to deny that the constitution represents a serious and honest attempt to recognize the legitimate anxiety of the countries of origin that the greatest possible number of their nationals should return. At the same time, it recognizes the fundamental principles of freedom and self-determination without which a human being, whether in his own country or abroad, languishes and succumbs. In establishing its line of conduct, the Brazilian delegation has endeavoured to bear in mind two principles. First, that repatriation must be given priority as being the most natural solution of this painful post-war problem of displaced populations. Every human being is of economic and cultural value to his native land. The countries which have been seriously laid waste are entitled to claim and obtain the co-operation of as many of their nationals as possible in the vital task of reconstruction. This principle is guaranteed by the constitution. The second principle to which the Brazilian delegation has felt bound to subscribe is that of t~e recognition of bona fide cases of political dis- SIdents or of people whose objections to going ?ack are very strong. In such cases emigration lS,the only alternative. Political, social or religious dissent is not a new phenomenon, nor is it a byproduct of the recent war. On the contrary, it ~ a fairly frequent historical phenomenon resultmg fr~m sudden territorial changes and political or SOCIal upheavals. The multiplicity of nations and the spread of various types of culture are Le PRESIDENT: Je donne la parole ~ M. Amado, representant du Bresil. M. AMADO (Bresil): La constitution de l'Organisation internationale pour les refugies, teIle que la Troisieme Commission l'a adoptee, marque la fin de longs et difficil~ efforts en vue de la creation d'un mecanisme international de cooperation ayant pour but la solution d'un probleme aussi poignant que les devastations materieIles dont 1'Europe et certainci parties de l'Asie ont ete le theatre. n s'agit d'un drame humain, dont la profondeur et l'amertume receIent des elements dangereux conduisant a des malentendus politiques et, a des conflits economiques. Nous sommes venus acette Assemblee avec la conviction que tout retard dans l'assainissement de la situation creee par le probleme des re£ugies concentres dans les camps ne ferait que prolonger ces malentendus, aggraver les soup~ons et maintenir un noyau de fermentation, d'instabilite au creur de l'Europe. La presente constitution est le resultat de pres d'un an de discussion. Qu'elle ne soit pas un instrument parfait, nous ne le savons que trop. Si tous les points de vue ne trouvent dans ce, texte qu'une expression approximative, il ne serait pas juste de nier que cette constitution represente un effort serieux et honnete pOUf reconnaitre l'interet legitime des pays d'origine dans leur desir de faire revenir dans leur territoire le plus grand nombre possible de ressortissants. En meme temps, eIle reconnalt les principes fondamentaux de liberte, d'autodeteIlI).ination, sans lesquels l'etre humain s'etiole et perit aussi bien a l'interieur qu'au dehors de sa patrie. Pour sa ligne de conduite, la delegation du Bresil a voulu tenir compte de deux principes. .D'abord, la reconnaissance de la priorite du rapatriement qui constitue la solution la plus naturelle de cc douloureux probleme de deplacements de populations que la guerre a fait naitre. Chaque etre humain represente pour sa patrie une valeur economique et culturelle. Les pays qui ont subi de graves devastations sont en droit de reclamer et d'obtenir la cooperation du plus grand nombre possible de leurs citoyens pour l'reuvre vitale de la reconstruction. Ce principe, la constitution le garantit. Le second principe auquel la delegation du Bresil a tenu a adherer, est la reconnaissance des cas legitimes de dissidences politiques ou de resistances sentirnentales qui necessitent et imposent l'emigration comme solution complementaire. La dissidence politique, sociale ou religieuse n'est pas un phenomene nouveau! ni un sous-produit de cette guerre. Au conp-arre, elle represente un phenomene historique assez frequent, consequence de brusq~es mut~~ons territoriales et des transformatlOns politiques et sociales. La multiplicite des nations et la dis- It is to this large mimber of refugees and displaced persons who, for sentimental or political reasons, feel a natural disinclination to re-adjust themselves to a radically changed social environment, those human beings shaken by violent and painful upheavals and now anxious to start a new life far from all acute social conflicts, it is to those people, those human beings to whom the United Nations Charter refers as having indefeasible human rights, that the draft constitution now before us, on which we are about to vote, offers the possibility of settling in other homes, in' other countries which are able to receive them. and anxious to help solve this preeminently international problem:. It is to these homeless ones, these unfortunate people whose sufferings are beyond human endurance, that the new countries with vast unpopulated areas and enormous potential wealth-such as, for instance, Brazil-have thought of throwing open their doors and of assuring them a welcome. It has been said in the Committee that certain receiving countries were anxious to take advantage of these circumstances in order to obtain cheap labour and enrich themselves by exploiting the refugees. It has been said that the refugees have been lured by the mirage of a false paradise to induce them not to return to their native land. It has been said that in these so-called attractive new countries a wandering life in the bush was all that awaited the unfortunates unwilling to return to their own soil. Brazil is not guilty of this propaganda. We approached this problem with the modesty and discretion characteristic of our attitude in international affairs. We were very cautious in calculating the number of refugees we could take, because we did not want them to exchange an unhappy situation for an insecure one. We are preparing homes, building houses and arranging residential centres where these new-corners can settle down and begin a new life. The one thing we could not do was to remain indifferent to the fate of these human beings, these refugees and displaced persons. Who, indeed, in this. Assembly could remain indifferent to this tragic post-war situation? These, then, were the motives by which the Government of Brazil was actuated when it offered a home to refugees wishing to start life afresh in new surroundings and signified its readiness to collaborate with the International Refugee Organization. We recognize the order of priority of the work assigned to the International Refugee Organization: repatriation is its main task; the resettlement or erni,gration of individuals is the first stage of the alternative solution; and large-scal~ The changes in the draft constitution made by the Fifth Committee will compel the Brazilian Government to reconsider its position and to study more closely the practical effects, from the point of view of the IRO's' work, of the adoption of a budget consisting partly of compulsory and partly of voluntary contributions. Ne~ertheless, Brazil will vote for the constitution. Whatever attitude we may eventually adopt, my Government will continue to collaborate in the hope of finding .a solution to !he problem. It re-affirms its intention of she1tenng any refu~ees who wish to come to Brazil and are ready to adapt themselves to our political and social institutions. We believe we can offer them satisfactory conditions enabling the~ once again to lead a happy and prosperous exIstence. We hope that the fifteen Members of the United Nations required to set up the IR~ will soon come forward and enable it to begm its work. I feel· sure that when it has studied the text of the constitution as submitted by the Budgetary Committee, the Brazilian Govern~ent will join the International Refugee Orgam~a­ tion. This is more than the mere expresslOn of a hope. In conclusion, I wish to say that Brazil, a country with a future, will·be glad to be able to provide desirable homes immediately for these she1terless refugees, whose unfortunate fate is the reason for the vote we are about to take. .

I call upon Dr.· Medved, representative of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist·Republic. d~avenir, sera heureux de pouvoir etre des la. present le foyer ,de,sir~ble pour ce~ refu,gie~ sans toit dont la destmee mgrate constltue 1obJet de notre vote. Le PRESIDENT: La parole est au Dr MedvedJ representant de la Republique socialiste sovietique d'Ukraine. From this rostrum I stress once again that we consider this problem an important one. We stand for the solution of this problem in the spirit of sincere international co-operation and complete mutual understanding. Moreover, we realize that there should be co-operation and mutual understanding above all between those countries which have now become the absolute masters and arbiters of the fate of the refugees and displaced persons, namely those States which have armies of occupation in territories where there are camps for refugees and dis- ,placed persons on the one hand, and the countries of origin of these displaced persons on the other. As is known, the occupation troops belong mainly to the United States of America, Great Britain and France. It is also knoWn that the main mass of displaced persons are citizens of the Soviet Union, Poland, Yugoslavia and the Ukraine, and only a small minority come from other countries. That is why I fully agree with Mrs. RooseveIt's ~ppeal for co-operation and mutual understandmg. We stand for the fullest co-operation and mutual understanding, especially in solving the important problem of our citizens, the problem of the so-called "refugees" and "displaced persons". As a result of the discussion and study of the documents which have been submitted for our consideration, we should note one fact which is not without interest. A nurriber of very important and very serious desires were expressed Du haut de cette tribune, je tiens a souligner une fois de plus que nous sommes les premiers a reconnaitre l'importance de ce probleme. Nous estimons qu'il faut le resoudre dans un esprit de collaboration internationale sincere et de complete comprehension mutuelle. Nous nous rendons parfaitement compte que cette collaboration et cette comprehension doivent etre etablies, avant tout, entre les pays d'origine des personnes deplacees et les pays qui, du fait qu'ils entretiennent des troupes d'occupation dans les territoires ou se trouvent les camps de refugies et de persoones deplacees, sont les maitres absolus du sort de ces personnes. I On sait que ce sont surtout les Etats-Unis d'Amerique, la Grande-Bretagne et la France qui entretiennent des troupes dans les pays occupes. On sait d'autre part que la plupart des personnes deplacees sont citoyens de l'Union sovietique, de la Pologne, de la Yougoslavie et de I'Ukraine et qu'il n'y a panni dIes que tres pe,u de ressortissants d'autres pays. Je me range done entierement a l'avis de Mme Roosevelt, qui a fait appel id, a la collaboration et a la comprehension mutuelle. Nous sommes partisans d'une collaboration d'autant plus etroite et d'une comprehension d'autant plus grande, qu'il s'agit la de regler la situation de nos citoyens, de resoudre le probleme, tres important pour nous, des individus que l'on appeile "personnes deplacees" et "reiugies;'. ' Apres avoir etudie et discute les documents qui nous ete soumis, nous ne pouvons nous empecher d'attirer votre attention sur un fait intl~ressant. Je veux'vous rappeler que les pays d'origine des Mrs. Roosevelt has rightly ~aid that. the existence of an enllrmous number of refugees and displaced persons may interfere with the proper rdations between individual countries. that this problem has a bearing on roJIccti\'c security. That is true; it is an axiom and J entirely agree. The point is that the draft constitution of the IRO--,-I beg you to understand me correctlv - in the form in which it is !'ubmitted to us) does not help toward.'l strengthf.ning cooperation among State.'l) and does not promote what Mrs. Roosevc1t ha.'l appealed to u,<; for. Nor does it contribute to the strengthening of collective security. How can the unbridl<'ll, hostile pro-fascist propaganda whkh is being shamele:-sly carried on daily among refugees and displaced persons in camps contribut to the l'trengthcning of cooperation amon~ States~' How can daily propaganda against Stat~ Members of the United Nations, i.lg;tin~t the l'lluntnes of origin of refugees and dL'lpla[(:d permms, contribute to the strengthening of internaucmal co-operation? How can the slanderin~ of our country, the slandcrin~ of my Republic in particlllar, the slandering of the countries of origin of refugees and displacC'ci person~ str 'n~hcn international co-operation? I think it would be more correct to say that all thili is interf('J"ing, and will interfere in the future, with proper relations and proper unde~tanding tH'twc("JI States. The slandering of my country which L" being carried on in the territorY of another countrY cannot meet with my approval Of that of m~' people, and I would like vou to realize thi~. The constittltio;l of th(: IRO. however. does not provide for the prevention of ho.<;tiJe propaganda .in camps. Propos.ds by a IllImhcr of ~elegatIOns to put an end to ho.'\tile propaganda m camps, to put an end to propa~anda al~ainst States Members of the United •·ationl'. \\'ere rejected. Our simple and clear proposal for free access to the camps by representatives of the countries of origin of displaced persons met with opposition. It Was rejected. I do not understand why. Nor do I understand such freedom of speech when institutes of public opinion, for instance, have firmly established the fact that in some countries 99 per cent of the population do not want war. Governments also declare from the rostrum that they desire peace, while in these countries, under the pretext of freedom of .speech, a small group of adventurers carries on daily w~rpropaganda. Is it because this small group has great freedom of speech and is able to drown the voice of a whole nation of many millions and its Government? No, there is something wrong with that argument. Genuine freedom of speech protects, above all the . . , genume mterests of the people and if the majority of the. people do not want war, war propaganda IS not the result of freedom of speech. In the same way freedom of speech cannot be a reason for refusing to admit government representatives to the camps. The interests of genuine security demand the immediate removal of war criminals from the camps. The interests of genuine security demand the immediate disbanding of fascist or pro-fascist military organizations which fought on the side of Gennany and the German fascists and are now, for some reason, undergoing military training. They are welcomed, some definite work is being carried out with them, stakes of some kind are being placed upon them. What hopes are connected with them, I am unable to say. The resolution adopted in London on 13 February 1946 states clearly that the General Assembly "recommends that Members of the United Nations forthwith take all the necessary measures to cause the arrest of war criminals . . • . and to cause them to be sent back to the Par la resolution votee le 13 fevrier 1946 a Londres, l'AssembIee generale "recommande que les Membres des Nations Unies prennent immediatement toutes les mesures pour que ·ces criminels de guerre ... soient arretes et ramenes dans les pays ou ont ete perpetres !eurs forfaits afin d'y En fait, comme vous le savez, huit mois se sont ecoules depuis que cette resolution a ete adoptee. Cependant, 10 pour 100 seulement des personnes deplacees ont ete trices dans la zone britannique. Dans les autres camps, le triage n'a pas ete effectue. Je ne sais sur quoi s'appuie le representant du Canada, mon grand ami M. Martin, Iorsqu'il affinne que les renseignements communiques par M. Gromyko et par moi-meme n'ont pas ete prouves. Quant aux representants qui s'opposent a nos arguments, ils n'apportent aucun fait. Cependant, on peut lire dans les documents du gouvernemcnt militaire britannique, i en date du 15 octobre, que ce gouvernement Imilitaire a procede a un triage dans les camps I ,et qu'il y a trouve la pOUf lOO de criminels de guerre; quedans certains camps de la zone fransaise, il y a 27 pour 100 de criminels de j guerre; que dans les camps de rCfugics et de I do not know how the representative of Canada, my great friend Mr. 1:fartin, can say that the facts put forward by 111". Gromyko and by myself are not proved. The representatives who oppose us do not produce any facts. At the same time, in British Military Administration dowmcnts of 1;) October, it is stated that the screening of Gunps had revealed that 10 per cent were war <:riminahi; that in other camps in the French zone 27 per cent were war criminals; and in camps {or refugees and displaced persons in the American zone 7 per cent. These are your own figures. Why, in reply to our statement, do you ten us that this is not in conformitv with the facts? It would be better if it wer~ not in confonnity with the facts! That is precisely why we arc anxious. I will say frankly that SO long as a single murderer of our people remains in refugee camps, so long as one murderer of our old. people and children, or one incendiary or one destroyer of our villag<'.'> remains in the camps, we will not rest and we will not he put off by any talk about freedom of speech. l personnes dcplacees, situcs en zone amcricaille, on a dcmasque 7 pour 100 de crimincls de guerre. Cc sont vos propres chiffres. Des Iors, comment pouvez-vous nous repondre que teUe n'est pas la rcalitC? Certes, il vaudrait mieux qu'il n'en soit pas ainsi; mais c'est justement la situation rcelle qui nous inquicte. ]e vous dirai franchement que tant qu'il restera dans les camps de refugies un seul assassin de nos concitoye05, tant qu'iI y restera un seul assassin de nos vieiIlards et de nos enfants, un seul de ceux qui ont detruit et incendie nos villages, nous ne nollS calmerons pas, et ce n'est pas au nom de la liberte de parole qu'on pourra nous eI11pecher de parler. Je rcrete que la securite et l'interet des Nations Unies exigent que taus Ies crimineIs, sans exception, soient dcmasques et eloignes des camps. Nous avons cite nombre de faits, nollS avorul dCsigne beaucoup d'endroits Oll 1'on forme des unites militaires, mais tout le monde declare que c'cst inexact. Or, il y a I'Italie du Nord, cela tout le monde le sait; il y a la, comme on le sait aussi, une petite vilIe nommee Cizenattino: c'est la que se trouve le camp 55. Les autorites d'occupation britannique ont reconstitue la une division composee d'anciens citoyens ukrainiem qui avaient combattu aux cotes des envahisseurs allemands dans le cadre de diverses formatiorul fascistes. Je ne crois pas que les Anglais aient forme cette division d'Ukrainiens pour qu'elle combatte l'Angleterre. Je ne crois pas non plus que cette division, composee de citoyens etrangers, ait ctc crece uniquement pour monter la garde autour d'un jardin ou d'un champ de melons. Tout cela nous fait rcflcchir. Nous avons indique les endroits ou ces formations ant ete constituees, mais, malgre cela, on nous declare que tout cela est inconcevable. En fin de compte, on nous empeche de visiter ces formations et cependant j'ai lu moi-meme dans Ies joumaux qu'un certain Kouchnir, nationaliste, I n~peat, it is in the imere."t.<; of security and of the United Nations that criminals should be screened to the la..'lt man and removed from tbe camps. We have quoted many facts and named many places where military fOnl13tions are being ere" ated. We are told this is untrue. But everyone knows about Northern Italy. It is common knowledge al'«l that there is a town there called Cizenattino, where Camp 5S is situated. The British occupation authoriti~ there have reformed a di,,'ision of former citizens of the Ukraine Government who fought in various fascist fornlations on the side of the German invader. I do not think that the British would have fnn1l(~d a Ukrainian division in order that it should fight against the British. I do not think either th;lt this division of foreign nationaL~ Wit'! created in mdcr to guard a melon field or a garden. It is thi~ that makes us wonder. In spite of our having given the address of tht'Sc fonnat.ion::; we arc told that the Whole thing is int·ornprehCIl~ible. The result is that we are not allowed to visit them and yet I myself read in a newspaper that, in Canada, there is a certain nationalist c.alled Kushnir who leads a Ukrainian pro-fa.'iCist or~anization. He was allowed to visit this camp. He was received Can we remain calm when fascists are al-: lowed to go to camps and agitate in favour of war against my country, against my people who have suffered so much? But you are unwilling to admit us or our mixed co~ons. The only right solution of this problem IS. to send mixed, commissions: military occupation autp.orities, representatives of the co~ntries concerned and of those countries which are not directly concerned. Let us create su~h. commissions; let us go and see. Such commISSIOns must be created and we guarantee that what we say will be confirmed. We, the countries of origin, sincerely wish to help in the capturing of war criminals. We know best who committed crimes in our countries and where they committed them. And . we can help to catch these crintdlals. However, the proposal of the Ukrainian delegation that lists of displaced persons should be compiled and handed over to us was rejected. Thus the constitution of the IRO in the form in which it is presented does not guarantee the apprehension of war criminals. Furthermore, the constitution of the IRO in its present form disregards the interests of the countries of origin, that is to say, it disregards the real interests of the .iisplaced persons themselves. That is why we, who are interested in the right solution of the problem of refugees and displaced persons, cannot vote for a constitution which does not guarantee this. We voted against this constitution and shall continue to do so. -

I call upon Mr. Bartos, representative of Yugoslavia. Mr. BARTOS (Yugoslavia) (translated from French): The Yugoslav delegation finds itself compelled to make a statement on the problem of displaced persons and refugees now under consideration. Everyone knows that the Yugoslav Government and the delegation of our country whose duty it is to study this problem, have always been most active and have made an exhaustive investigation of this question. We have dealt with it from a political, a technical and above all a humanitarian point of view. M. BARTOS (Yougoslavie): La delegation yougoslave se trouve dans l'obligation de faire une declaration sur le probleme des personnes deplacees et des refugies que nous etudions, en ce moment. Chacl.!-n sait que le Gouvernement yougoslave, et les delegations de notre pays chargees de l'etude de ce probleme, ont toujours ete tres actifs et ont procede a des etudes appro- , fondies de ceUe question. Nous l'avons traitee du n'interess~ pas directement, et je les invite a creer ces Commissions. Rendons-nous sur les lieux voyons ce qui s'y passe. Il faut ereer ces , . Commissions: nous garanbssons que ce que nous disons se trouvera alors confirme. Nous, les pays d'origine des personn~ deplacees 'nous desirons sincerement contnbuer a de~asquer les criminels de guerre. ~ous conn~ sons mieux que personne ceux qUl ont comrrus des crimes dans notre pays et le lieu de leurs crimes. Nous pouvons donc aider aretrouver ces criminels. Cependant, lorsque la delegation ukrainienne a propose que 1'on dresse des listes des personnes deplacees et qu'on nous les communique, on a rejete cette proposition. Ainsi, la constitution de l'Organisation internationale pour les re£ugies, teUe qu'eUe a ete presentee, n'assure pas la capture des criminels d~ guerre. Bien plus, cette constitution, dans son texte actuel, ignore les interets des pays .. d'origine des personnes deplacees, c'est-a.-dire les interets veritables des personnes deplacees eUesmemes. Nous sommes interesses de tres pres a. ce que l'on trouve une solution equitable au probleme des personnes deplacees et des refugies, et c'est pourquoi nous ne pouvons voter pour une constitution qui n'offre pas de garanties a ce point de vue. Nous avons vote contre cette constitution et nous voterons encore contre elle. Le PRESIDENT: Je donne la parole cl M. Bartos, representant de la Yougoslavie. Some people may possibly think that we have different ideas of liberty. But in Yugoslavia and in Serhia a law on the right of sanctuary has been in exi$tence since 1848. We have always respected this law. You can ask the Jews who are now professors in the universities of America, England or Australia where they first found refuge after the advent of Hitler. Their first refuge was Yugoslavia. In our country the right of sanctuary is an in~titlltion that has always been r<~$pc('ted. If we respect this right of sanctuary, why are we now opposed to this integral solution for all refugees and all di$pIaccd persons? There is certainly a reason. It was explained by the Yugoslav delegation not only at the General Assembly in London but previously, in certain memoranda submitted to governments. We do not object to those who left our country because of their political opinions being treated as refugees or displaced persons-there may be such people. But we do not wish those who left our country with weapons in their hands to join the enemy ranks; those who during four yc.'U'S of fighting and occupation were the protagonists of the "new Europe", that is of fascism; those who, during the terrible years wc lived through in Europe, strove to establish the "new order" that coot so many lives in Europe and caused such upheavals in all part~ of the world, to be regarded as refugees or displaced persons. But now the people who left their country in the company of the GerinaIlS are treated by the Allies as refugees; they are placed under their protection, that is to say, under the protection of States Members of the United Nations. They are even favoured in comparison with the loyal sons of our country who have fought persistently for the cause and the purposes of the United Nations.. This is something that we cannot understand. There is a reason for it. We have endeavoured to study this new historical phenomenon of which no trace is to be found throughout the ages. It was the psychological rather than the material aspect of the existence of these "refugees," that led our Gov- The right of sanctuary is one question. The right to assistance is another. In both these fieldll .yugoslavia has never failed to make her contribution. But how is it possible to help people who have left their country? We have aJwaysheld the opinion, and still do, that the first and most natural fonn of assistance is to help displaced persons to return to their own country. Voluntarily, not forcibly. You are perhaps surprised! Why have they not returned? Because, we assert, and have on many occasions furnished evidence in support of our contention, they have been prevented from doing so. During -the war I spent four years in concentration camps. My eyes and ears witnessed what happened there. From the first day, the Allied authorities singled out the prisoners and deportees of certain countries (France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) who were returned to their countries willy-nilly. As for the others they were advised by what I might call the village and camp bosses, not to return to their country of origin. Certain trains proceeding to Yugoslavia were stopped several times by the British or American authorities, who repeatedly asked everyone if he wished to return of his own free will. This operation was repeated at the frontier. Everyone was I ap;ain asked separately whether he wished to return to his country or not. Then, before everyone, certain persons--unfortunately of high military rank, colonels and ~enerals who had collaborated with the Germans--were interrop;ated 50 that they mi~ht publicly and audibly announce their unwillingness to return to their country. This, to say the least, constitutes what may be called agitation. The people Des le premier jour, nom avon!! Vll que cette question avait un aspect humanitaire et - Mme Roosevelt y a fait allusion - un aspect politique. Des le premier jour, nous avons ere panni ceux qui soutenaient que le probleme etait de la competence de notre Organisation. Certes, il est de notre competence. NOli! somme.el trnu!! de le resoudre. Comment le rb soudre? De tel1e maniere que ]e.<l exigence.el hu· manitaires soient satisfaites. Comment peuventdIes' ctre satisfaites? En donnant aide a tolLS ceux qui le mentent et en ont besoin. Le droit d'asile constitue une premiere question. Le droit a l'assistance en est une seconde. Dans ces deux domaines, la Yougo,c;lavie n'a jamais manque d'apporter son concours. Mais comment est-il possible d'assister des personnes qui ont quitte leur pays? Nous avons toujours ete d'avis - nOllS le sommes encoreque la premiere forme d'assistance, la plus normale, consiste aaider les personnes deplaceeg en vue du retour dans leur patrie. Volontairement, non par la force. Vous €tes peut-ctre etonnes! Pourquoi ne sont-eUes pas rentrees? Parce que - nous l'affirmons, nous en avons donne a maintes reprises la preuve - dIes ont ete empcchees de le faire. J'ai passe, durant la guerre, quatre annees dans les camps de concentration. J'ai ete temoin de auditu et de visu des phenomenes qui se sont produits. Les autorites aUiees, des le premier jour, ont fait la distinction entre les prisonniers et deportes de certains pays (France, Belgique, Luxembourg et Pays-Bas), qui ont etc, volens nolens, emmenes dans leur pays et leg autres, auxquels il etait conseille - par si je puis dire, des coqs de village, des coqs de camp - de ne pas rentrer dans leurs pays d'origine. Certains trains diriges sur la You~os1avie furent, a plusieurs reprises, arrctes par leg autorites britanniques ou americaines en cours de route pour demander et redemander achacun s'il avait bien la volonte, la libre volonte de rentrer. Ce~tc operation etait repetee a la frontiere. 11 etait de nouveau demande a chacun, separcment, s'il entendait ou rion retoumer dans son pays. Puis, devant tout le monde, on interro,geait certainCll personnes - de haut rang militaire, malheureusement: colonels et generaux ayant collabore avec les Allemands - afin qu'elles declarent publiquement a voix haute qu'dle se prononc;aient contre le retour dans !eur pays. Cela I will mention only two names, those of a Serb and a Croat, so-called generals. Damnjanovic, chief of the Nedic Cabinet during the war, was a prisoner of war; as such, he carried on a certain amount of colIaborationist agitation; together with certain Yugoslav officers he signedto the shame of our history and our peoplethat Nuremberg declaration expressing confidence in Hitler and in which they put themselves at his disposal. This Mr. Damnjanovic was sent to Belgrade where he was given the important post of Personal Assistant to General Nedic, our quisling. He was placed in command of this camp and is still there. Another example: that of Mr. Matija Parae, a colonel in the Croatian army. The day the Italians arrived he entered the service of Mr. Pavelitch who promoted him to the rank of ge:q.eraI. According to documents confirmed by the Allied authorities, he is now in command of the Croatian Army of the Royal Yugoslav Army. In this capacity he is authorized to issue Croatian army orders. What is incredible to us, is that these gentlemen decide ancL authorize repatriations. We could give other examples but the list would be too long and we have too little time. However, I can tell you that thanks to the. foresight of the Belgian and French Governments we have been able to discover cases of soldiers held in camps in Germany making their escape, ·arriving secretly in Belgium or France and being repatriated through Germany. These things . are incredible, but they are nevertheless true. There are some unfortunates who were first arrested by the camp guards, because, having left the camps in which they were detained, they were considered deserters. At first we thought there was misunderstanding. We attributed this state of alTairs to the attitude of the commandants and not to a policy followed by governments. We first of alI drew attention to the existence of such facts, requesting that they should not be allowed to recur. We subsequently protested and submitted the question to the United Nations. Meanwhile the practice continues and the situation is such that we have been obliged to study the matter and ask that means be found to arrive at a solution that is both just and reasonable. We think it might be necessary to send an international commission of enquiry, and we should be satisfied with that solution. This proposal was made by Mr. Bebler, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, in the Special Committee in London of which Mr. McNeil was Chairman. I took part in the deliberations of this Committee. ~gs have put themselves under the protection of certain countries and-I admit that this is not true-that the Refugee Organization has been created to cover these cases. I accept the view that there are political refugees from every country, even from Yugoslavia. But we are not concerned here with refugees who wish to be or who can be repatriated; we are not concerned with political refugees, but with quislings and war criminals including Mr.. Pavelitch himself. We gave the registration number of Mr. Pavelitch's treasurer, who was discovered by the Inter-Allied High Command in Paris. He was artested, but as the result of an error, he escaped. Imagine Petain being arrested in Gennany and escaping from his prison. That is incredible. Wehave insisted that an organization should be established, but that screening should be carried out by means of an international enquiry, and that standardS should be adopted. We can agree upon the definition of war criminals and quislings. When this definition has been accepted, persons covered by it should not receive assistance. The amendments proposed for this purpose have been watered down so much that they have lost their true character. It is the political side of the question the fear of seeing misunderstandings arise bet.:.veen the Allies and between the United Nations, that pre;rents us from joining the new organization m Its present form. It is mainly for this reason that we cannot accept the report that has been drawn up or the draft constitution.

Three speakers have supported the resolution and three have spoken against it. I still have four speakers who wish to explain their vote. They are the representatives of Chile, El Salvador, Lebanon and the United Kingdom. I propose to call upon them and that their speeches be limited to five minutes. I call upon Mrs. Labarca, representative of Chile. Mrs. LABARCA ( Chile) (translated from French): Ever since the first steps' taken in London and the communication from the Secretary-General regarding the establishment of a?- international institution for refugees and displaced persons, our Government desirous of helping to lessen the sufferings of millions of unfortunate beings, has collaborated to the best of its ability in solving this problem. Although we declared ourselves opposed to the establishment of an autonomous body, we approved that of a commission to work under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council. When the latter idea was rejected, our delegation made a reservation on the position our . country would adopt in regard to the future organization. When article 10 of this draft was examined in the Fifth Committee, the delegations of Chile and Peru introduced amendments which would enable these two countries to collaborate with the International Refugee Organization, even if they found it difficult to sign the constitution at the outset. Lastly, in the vote on this constitution as a whole, our delegation abstained, requesting that the abstention be recorded. We therefore consider, for the time being, that it is the, duty of our delegation to state frankly that the establishment of an autonomous organization, together with its budgetary estimates and the system of contributions set up, do not permit us to sign the draft convention at present. Nevertheless, we are wholeheartedly in agreement with the principles of solidarity on which the International Refugee Organization is founded. We mean to contribute, to the best of our ability, in solving the problem of refugees and displaced persons, and we wish to offer them hospitality in our country. It is our desire to do everything possible, in the future as in the past to save them from distress and to ensure their livelihood. We believe that this form of assistance is one of the best, if not the best, which can be given them, for it tends to make of these unfortunate war victims citizens enjoying the full civic and political freedom possessed by our people. All possibilities of economic development will be offered them in our country, which will give them a warm welcome. Accordingly, Chile will abstain from voting. The PRESIDENT (translated from French): I call upon Mr. Malik, representative of the Lebanon. . Mr. MALIK (Lebanon): I wish to indicate very briefly why the delegation of Lebanon will vote for the resolution establishing the IntematioI)al Refugee Organization. By the resolution of last February, the problem of refugees is recognized as a great present problem, as an urgent problem, and as one that is international in scope and character. Therefore, it has to be faced and solved by the comity of nations. The Economic and Social Council and the Third Le . PRESIDENT: Je donne la parole a M. Malik, representant du Liban. M. MALIK (Liban) (traduit de l'anglais): Je desirerais exposer brievement les raisons pour lesquelles la delegation du Liban votera pour la resolution tendant acreer l'Organisation internationale pour les refugics. Par la resolution qu'elle a adoptee au mois de fcvrier demier, l'Assemblee generale a reconnu que le probleroe des refugies est un grand probleme d'actualite, qu'une extreme urgence s'y attache, que sa portee et son caractere sont d'ordre international. C'est oon~on from every direction. The delegation of Lebanon participated in the genesis of this document. We submitted our own quota of amendments, some of which were accepted, some modified and incorporated, some rejected. The result of hundreds of hours of debate and discussion is the present constitution. Admittedly, it is not perfect, but at least it is something to start with, something to go by. I fed, therefore, that because this problem is urgent and cannot wait for human perfection, or the perfection of human products, I will support the present constitution. .I feel further that if the enormous amount of labour that has gone into this work should now be wasted and nothing should be set up to grapple with this great problem, it would be a great pity. The General Assembly entrusted the Economic and Social Council with the task of examining this problem and 3Olvin~ it. It has examined this question most minutely, and now, it is submitting back to the General Assembly the fruits, such as they are, of its labours. From the point of view of the Economic and Social Council, as such, apart from the limited perspective of anyone delegation, these labours, I submit, cannot now be wasted. Naturally, the support I am giving thi.s constitution does not mean either that I am wholly pleased with it or that thereby I commit my Government to join t.he International Refugee Organization. I reserve my Government's complete liberty of action regarding the joining' of the International Refugee Organization. .By my support now, I am only expressing the WISh that the IRQ should arise and work and assume responsibility. For the very life blood of international organizations, and certainly of the United Nations, is the promotion of the spirit of mutual confidence. If we do not trust one another even, and especially, in the ultimate ddicate matters, there will be no healthy inter~ national life. He who begins the process of trust has a double reward. For my part, J am willing to trust in advance, in spite of the evident risks ~volved, that the IRO wiII be big enough to nse. above. every possibility of abuse, that it will be ImpartIal and just enough not to endanger the basic interests of my country. We must never forget that it will' always be subject to the ultimate control of the Economic and Social Council. If those who will be put in charge of it are of the same morale calibre as that of those with whom I had the honour to collaborate in the Economic and Social Council, I am sure it wiII never be put to any abuse. mc~e et surtout lorsqu'il s'agit de questions ~mmemmcnt delicates, il ne peut y avoir de vie mternationalc saine. Cclui qui, le premier, donne sa .confiancc est doublement recompense. Pour ma part, je suis pret, malgre les risques evidents, a admettre d'avance que l'OIR s'clcvera a un niveau teI qu'cHe ne puisse commettre aucun abw;, et qu'eHe sera assez impartiale et equitable pour ne pas compromettre les intercts fondamentaux de mon pays. 11 ne faut pa." oublier que l'OJR sera toujours soumise, en fin de compte, a l'autorite du Conseil economique et social. Si ccux qui auront la charge de la· dinger sont moralement .de la mcme qualitc que ceux avee qui j'ai eu I'honneur de coUaborer au Conseil economique et social, je suis certain M. BESWICK (Royaume-Uni) (traduit de l'anglais): Ce n'est pas pour donner les raisoIUf de man vote que je prends la parole. ]e croi8 m'etre suffisamment explique Ia-dessus devant la Commission. Je desirerais cependant presenter un amendement, de peu d'importance d'ailleurs., et je m'excuse de prendre, pour ce faire, le temps de l'Assemblee; je puis peut-etre invoquer 'une circonstance attenuante: c'est que, si la procedure que nous avons adoptee m'avait permis de repondre a mon ami le Dr Medved, j'aurais retenu encore plus longtemps votre attention'l Je desirerais proposer, pour le premier paragraphe de l'Article 11, un amendement contenu dans le document A/238 1 et qui, malheureusement, n'a pas ete mentionne dans l'ordre du jour, a savoir: inserer, apr~s le mot "Paris':" les mots "ou a Geneve, suivant la decision du Conseil general". . Aux termes de la Constitution, sous sa forme actuelle, 1'OIR est pour rinstant tenue d'etablir son siege a Paris. L'accord s'est fait sur ce point au Conseil economique et social, bien que ce ne soit pas sans hesitation que 1'on ait designe un endroit determine alors qu'on ne savait pas encore de quels Btats Membres se co:rp.poserait le Conseil general de fOIR. De nombreux representants desiraient rouvrir la question a la Troisieme Commission, mais, par suite d'un malentemlu, 1'amendement presente a la Commission competente a ete malheureusement ecarte pour la raison qu'il n'avait pas ete pr6- sente dans les limites de temps prescrites. A de nombreux egards - a. tous les egards presque certainement, si ron ne tenait compte que de la commodite personnelle des rcpresentants -la belle ville de Paris. serait un endroit ideal. Tq~tefois, les considerations qui, au debut de eerie annee, s'opposaient a cc que Genevt fUt choisie n'existent plus aujourd'hui, et il y a avantage a ce que les institutions specialiseOl des Nations Unies se trouvent, soit au siege central de 1'Organisation, soit a son siege regional. DaDs' le cas particulier qui nous occupe, il )' aurait un interet special afixer le siege de 1'0.... ganisation internationale pour,les refugies dans la ville ou les Societes de la Croix-Rouge ont les leurs, car it est possible queJ'OIR soit amen& a. collaborer avec el1es dans une grande mesure.. Toutefois, 1'amendement dont il s'agit a un caractere facultatif. Il a pour but de donner an Conseil general une Iiberte un peu plus grande dans son choix et, bienque je sois convaincu que ses membres inclineraient vers Paris: s'ils en venaient a la conclusion que toutes les considerations reunies - notamment celle de locaux plus appropries - font pencher la balance du cote de Geneve, nollS aimerions que le Conseil soit libre de faire porter son choix sur cette ville.. J'espere donc que YAsscmblee adoptera cet. amendement. I wish to move, that in article 11, paragraph 1, an amendment set out in document A/238/ to which, unfortunately, no reference has been made on the agenda be inserted. I wish to insert the following words after "Paris": "or Geneva, as the General Council shall decide." At the moment, under the constitution as it, stands, the Organization is committed to seeking headquarters in Paris. This commitment was agreed to in the Economic and Social Council, although it was with some reluctance that a fixed place was decided upon at a time when it was uncertain which members would constitute the General Council of the Organization. There were many representatives who wished to open up this matter again in the .Third Committee, but unfortunately, owing to a'misunderstanding, the amendment submitted to the appropriate Committee was ruled out of date. ' From many points of view-and almost certainly if one consulted only the personal convenience of the representatives, from all points of view-the fair city of Paris would be ideal. However, considerations which operated against the choice of Geneva earlier in the year do not now exist, and there is an advantage in having ,our specialized agencies either at the headquarters of the United Nations or at its regional headquartefs. In this particular case there would be an especial advantage in having the headquarters of, the International Refugee Organization in the same city as the headquarters of the Red Cross Societies, with which body there may be a good deal of collaboration. However, this amendment is only a pennissive amendment.' It is designed to give the General Council a little more freedom of choice, and, although I am sure that they will be favourably inclined toward Paris, should they come to the conclusion that all consideration~inc1uding more suitable office accommodation~would leave the balance of advantage with Geneva, we should like to leave them free to make that . choice. I hope, therefore, that the Assembly will accept this amendment. Mr. BROUSTRA (France) (translated from French): I must confess that this amendment, presented at a moment when the Ass~mbly is about to disperse, has somewhat surprISed the French delegation. There is already a decision taken by the Economic and Social Council, by a large majority, at its last session. This decision has been ratified without opposition by the Third Committee, and the United Kingdom delegation proposed no amendment in this matter during the long weeks of discussion. Naturally, it is for the Assembly to take the final decision, but the French delegation will abstain from voting. If, however, the Assembly's decision corresponds to that of the Economic and Social Council, I can once again give you the assurance that the French Government will be glad to welcome this organization, and will make the necessary arrangements to facilitate the accomplishment of its delicate task.

We will now vote on the United Kingdom amendment to insert the words "or at Geneva, as the General Council shall decide" after the word "Paris" in the first line of article 11 of the Constitution of the International Refugee Organization. I call upon Dr.. Medved, representative of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Dr. MEDVED (Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic) (translated from Russian): The Ukrainian delegation has referred to a number of substantial and serious amendments which it proposed and which were rejected. In order to facilitate a rapid conclusion of the work of the Assembly the Ukrainian delegation did not insist upon its amendments being discussed again. here. I consider it wrong that the United Kingdom delegation did not follow this principle like the rest of us, but submitted its amendment which had been rejected. The question of the location of the IRa was discussed at great length. As a result of the lengthy discussion we decided upon Paris. If we now decide to reconsider this question I would ask also for a reconsideration of the Ukrainian proposal concerning the lists of displaced persons. If we decide not to accept any amendment, I will insist nevertheless upon my proposal and ask for a vote on our amendments, which are very important, concerning the prohibition of propaganda in camps. I am not speaking of this because I am against Geneva, but if we decided on Paris, that decision should stand. My speech therefore refers to the method of conducting our meeting. M. BROUSTRA (France): Je ne cache pas que cet amendement, depose au moment ou I'Assemblee va se separer, surprend quelque peu la delegation fran~aise. Nous sommes en eifet en presence d'une decision prise par le Conseil economique et social, a une forte majorite d'ailleurs, lors de sa derniere session. Cette decision a ete ratifiee sans opposition par la Troisicme Commission, et la delegation britannique n'a depose aucun amendement a ce sujet pendant les longues sc:maines de la discussion. Naturellement, il appartient a l'A'iSembl€e de decider d'une fa~on souveraine, mais la delegation fran~aise s'abstiendra dans cc vote. Cependant, si la decision de I'Assemblce est conforme a cdle du Conseil economique et social, je peux une fois de plus YOUS donner l'as.c;urance que le Gouvernement fran<;ais sera heureux d'accueillir cette Organisation et prcndra les dispositions necessaires pour lui faciliter l'accomplissement de sa delicate mission. Le PRESIDENT: Nous alIons maintenant mettre aux voix l'amendement britannique qui consiste a inserer a la premiere ligne de I'article 11 dans la constitution de 1'0rganisation internationale pour lc:s refugies, apres le mot "Paris" les mots: "ou a Gencve, suivant la decision du Conseil general". Je donne la parole all Dr Mcdved, representant de la Rcpllbliquc socialistc sovietique d'Ukrainc. Dr MEDVED (Republiquc socialistc sovietique d'Ukraine) (tradttit du russe): La delegation ukrainicnne a deja signale tous les amendements de bicn plus d'importance qu'elle avait proposes et qui ont ete rejetcs. Min de permettre a I'Asscmblee generale de terminer rapidement scs travaux, notre delegation n'a pas insiste pour que ces amendements soient soumis ici a un nouve! examen. restime egalement que la delegation britannique a eu tort de ne pas suivre l'exemple de toutes les autre.c; delegations et de proposer un amendement qui avait deja ete rejet6. Nous avons discute tres longuement sur la question du siege de l'Organisation internationale pour les refugics. Nous avons finalement optc pour Paris. Si maintenant nous d6cidions d'aborder a nouveau cette question, je demanderai egalement de soumettre a un nouvel examen l'amendement ukrainien relatif aux !istes. Si toutefois nous d6cidons de ne pas accepter d'amendement, j'insisterai neanmoins ~r ma proposition et jc demanderai que I'on vote sur nos amendements qui portent sur la question tres importante de l'intcrdiction de la propagande clans les camps. Si je fais ces remarques, ce n'est pas que je m'oppose au choix de Geneve, mais c'est parce que, ayant choisi Paris, nous devons nous en tenir a notre decision. Mon intervention porte donc sur la procedure de nos debats.

That is a very witty remark but it is not true. We are not concerned with amendments submitted to and rejected by the Committee. We are concerned with an amendment duly submitted to the General Assemblv. No amendment was submitted by the Uk'rainian delegation. We shall now vote on the United Kingdom amendment. A vote was taken by show of hands. Decision: The United Kingdom amendment was adopted by eighteen votes to eleven with seventeen abstentions. . Mr. AGHNIDES (Greece): The distinguished representative of the United States has covered completely all the ground allotted in this respect to the Third Committee, and it would be superfluous for me, and perhaps improper, to repeat in less convincing terms what Mrs. Roosevelt has done so eloquently. I shall limit myself to two observations: one, approval of the draft constitution of the IRO, including the' scale of contributions. The provisional budget does not carry with it an obligation on the part of any government to adhere to the IRO or to make any financial contribution to it. As Mrs. Roosevelt said, by approving the report and the resolution we should merely have passed expert judgment upon a plan for setting up the International Refugee Organization. Secondly, on behalf of the Fifth Committee I submit the report and the resolution in document A/275 (annex 97) for the consideration and approval of this Assembly, as our President himself has done in joining the two reports and the resolutions.

We shall vote on the two reports contained in documents A/265 and A/275. A vote was taken by roll-call. The result of the voting is·as follows: Votes for: Belgium, Canada, China, Cuba, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Iceland, .Iran, Lebanon, Liberia, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippine Republic, Union of South Africa, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uruguay, Venezuela. Nous alIons done voter maintenant sur l'amendement du Royaume-Uni. Le vote a lieu amain levee. Decision: L'amendement du Royaume-U11.i est adopte par dix-huit voix contre onze, et dixsept abstentions. M. AGHNIDES (Grece) (traduit de l'anglais) : L'eminent representant des Etats-Unis a expose de fa~on tres complete a la Troisieme Commission, toutes les questions qui se posaient dans ce domaine; il serait done de ma part superflu, et peut-etre deplace, de repeter, dans des termes qui ne pourraient pas etre aussi convaincants, ce que Mme Roosevelt a exprime avec tant d'eloquence. Aussi me limiterai-je a deuX observations: la premiere porte sur l'.approbation du projet de constitution de l'OIR, y compris le bareme des contributions. A cet egard le budget provisoire ne comporte pas l'obligation, pour un Gouvernement, d'adherer al'OIR ou d'apporter a cctte organisation une contribution financiere quekonque. Comme Mme Roosevelt l'a dit, l'approbation du rapport et de la resolution, qUi nous est demandee, ne represente qu'un avis d'expert que nous fournirons sur le projet ten-' dant a l'etablissement de l'Organisation internationale pour les refugies. En second lieu, je viens soumettre al'examen et a l'approbation de I'Assemblee, au nom de la Cinquiemc Commission, le rapport et la resolution figurant au document A/275 (annexe 97), comme d'ailleurs notre President l'a deja fait en groupant ensemble les deux rapports et les resolutions. Le PRESIDENT: Nous alIons voter sur les rapports figurant aux documents A/265 et A/275. II est prodde au vote par appe1 nominal. Voici le resultat du vote: Votent pour: Belgique, Canada, Chine, Cuba, Danemark, Republique Dominicaine, Equateur, France, Grece, Guatemala, Honduras, Islande, Iran, Liban, Liberia, Luxembourg, Mexique, Pays-Bas, .Nouve1le-Zelande, Nicaragua, Norvege, Panama, Paraguay, Perou, Republique d~ Philippines, Union Sud-Africaine, Royaume- Uni, Etats-Unis d'Amerique, Uruguay, Venezuela. Decision: The tlt/a reports were adopted by (kiTty votes to five with eighteen abstentions. 206. Measures to economize the time of the General Assembly: report of the General Committee: resolution (document A/279J

We shall discuss the General Committee's report an measures to economiz-e the time of the Geneca! Assembly (annex 98). I call ,upon Mr. Martin, representative of Canada. Mr. MA.RTIN (Canada;): I am going to ask ;ill the Members of the Assembly to be very inc!u1gent with me. I want to make a very brief statement because my delegation does consider this matter to be one of importance, and it may ,lfeem perhaps a little unorthodox if I seemingly take time to suggest a motion which would have the effect of economizing time, but it may be that if this motion is fully appreciated and acted 'Ipon we may really save time. The CanadilUl delegation hopes that the 4doption of the resolution now before the Assembly will result in the accomplishment of the aim which mv Government had in view when it made its oiiginal proposal last September in it letter addressed to the Secretary-General. That aim was that there should be introduced at the beginning of the next session of the Assembly, opening next September, reforms in the practices and rules of procedure of the Assembly so that we would not at the next session waste as much time aB I think, on occasion, we have during the present session. On the face of it, it might !eem that thill resolution now before the Astembly is not of great importance. I would sub- .mit that the action which this Assembly might take today by adoptin~ this resolution might in a year's time, or two years', be considered as one of the constructive decisions of this first session. 'The delegation of Canada was charged, when it first introduced this proposal, with the hidden aim of preventing long speeches at the General Assembly, limitin~ freedom of speech and hindering the criticism of a number of draft .r;esolutions submitted to the Assembly. The Canadian proposals were labelled as having an anti-democratic character. Anyone who knows anything about my country, about the people of my coun- . tr:y, knoW! that these charges can have no foun- Decision: Les deux rapports sont adoptes par trente voix contre cinq, et dix-huit abstentions. 206. Mesures destinees a economiser le temps de I'Assemblee generale. Rappor~ du Bureau. Resolution (document A/279) Le PRiSIDENT: Nous allons discuter maintenant le rapport du Bureau relatif aux mesures destinees a economiser le temps de l'Assemblee generale (annexe 98). Je donne la parole aM. Martin, representant du Canada. M. MARTIN (Canada) (traduit de l'anglais): Je sollicite de tous les Membres de I'Assemblee la plus grande indulgence. Je desire faire une tres breve declaration car ma delegation estime que cette question est importante; il pourra peutctre sembler un peu paradoxal d'occuper le temps de l'Assemblee apresenter une motion qui aurait pour dfet de lui faire gagner du temps. Mais si cette motion re~oit l'attention qu'elle merite et la suite qu'eU~ comporte, nous pourrons sans doute vraiment economiser du temps. La delegation canadienne espere que I'adoption de la resolution dont r Assemblee est actuellement samie permettra d'atteindre le but que mon Gouvernement avait en vue lorsqu'il a presente sa premiere proposition, en septembre dernier, dans une lettre adressee au Secretaire general. Cette resolution avait pour objet d'introduire, au debut de la prochaine session de l'Assemblee qui s'ouvrira au mois de septembre proehain, des modifications dans les methodes et dans le reglement interieur de l'Assemblee, de teUe sorte que lors de cette proehaine session, nous ne perdions pas autant de temps que nous I'avons fait parfois, me semble-toil, au cours de la presente session. A premiere vue, on pourrait croire que la resolution soumise a l'Assemblee en ce moment n'a pas une grande importance. Or, j'estime qu'en adoptant aujourd'hui cette resolution, l'Assemblee prendrait une mesure qui, dans un an ou deux, pourrait etre consideree comnie l'une des decisions construetives de cette premiere session. Lorsqu'elle a presente cette proposition pour la premiere fois, la delegation du Canada s'est vue accusee de chercher insidieusement a interdire aux representants de prononcer de longs discours a l'Assemblee generale, a restreindre la liberte de parole et a empecher que l'on puisse critiquer certains projets de resolutions soumis a I'Assemblee. Les propositions de la d6lega- -tion canadienne ont ete qualifiees de. propositions visalit a. limiter la Iiberte d'expression et Each Member of the Assembly has the right to express his view fully, but no Member ought to exercise this right in a way which would destroy the rights of other Members. The rights of one Member are limited by the rights of others and by the just requirements of a democratic Assembly. It is, moreover. unrealistic to contend that the Assembly has to choose between unrl'i:trict('n frl't"nom of cii!'l'lli'.<:.ion anci a sYStem of suppression of speech. Experience has demonstrated that an international conference which begins with unrestricted freedom of discussion ends by operating under the most rigid rules for limiting the length and number of speeches. One thing I wish to make perfectly clear is that my Government has never su.~gested that the sessions of the General Assemblv should be unnecessarily curtailed. They sho~ld, in the opinion of the Canadian Government, be as long as necessary for us to do the work. The sessions of the Assembly, could, however, be shortened by eliminating ~tnne~essary debates on procedure and unnecessary repetiti.on of arguments, by the careful drafting of resolutions and conventions and by recognizing, in the election of committee chairmen, the necessity for securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Unnecessarily protracted sessions will moreover affect the calibre of national delegations. It will become increasingly difficult for the Members of the United Nations to send adequl'lte delegations to sessions of the General Assembly if it is demonstrated that much of the time of the representatives is taken up unnecessarily. The representatives and advisors we all want to see at the sessions of our Assembly are persons whose services are needed at home to help solve pressing domestic problems. and to deal at home with problems of foreign policy. The time of these men is precious. It is not in the general interest that they should be wasted. The problem is not merely one of unnecessary protraction of Assembly meetings. There is the much more important problem of how we can more effi. ciently use the time at our disposal. This session Chaque Membre de I'Assemblee a le droit d'exprimer son opinion de fa~on complete, mais aucun Membre ne devrait exercer ce droit d'une maniere qui reduirait a neant leg droits des autres.. Les droits d'un Membre sont limites par les drOlts des autres et par ce qu'exige legitime. ment le -fonctionnement d'une Assemblee democratique. C'est, en outre, manquer du sens des realites que de soutenir que I'Assemblee doit choisir entre une liberte de discussion illimitee et le systeme qui consiste asupprimer la discussion. L'experience montre en effet qu'au m~­ ment ou une conference internationale qui a commence sous le regime d'une compl(~te liberte de discussion, se tennine: la longuer et le nombre des discours y sont limites par les regles les plus strictes. Il est une chose que j~ tiens a exposer diune fa~on tres claire. Mon Gouvernement n'a jamais suggere de reduire sans necessite la durt~e des sessions de I'Assemblee generale. De l'avis du Gouvernement canadien, ces sessions doivent durer tout le temps necesSaire a l'accomplissement de notre tache. Elles pourraient, toutefois, etre abregees si 1'0n supprimait les debats de procedure superflus et l'inutil~ repetition des arguments, si l'on redigeait avec soin le texte des resolutions et des conventions et si 1'0n tenait compte, lors de l'election des presidents de Commissions du fait qu'il est necessaire de choisir des personnes possedant les plus hautes qualites de travail, de competence et d'integrite. En outre, la prolongation injustifiee des sessions aura sa repercussion sur la valeur des delegations nationales. Le jour OU il apparaitra qu'une grande partie du temps des representants est absorbe vainement, les Etats Membres de notre Organisation eprouveront de plus en plus de difficultes a envoyer aux sessions de I'AssembIee generaIe des delegations propres a cette tache. Les representants et les conseillers que nOlffi souhaitons tous voir sieger a notre Assemblee sont des personnes dont !eur pays a le plus grand besoin pour resoudre des problemes interieurs urgents et pour traiter, dans leur pays meme, des problemes de politique etrangere. Le temps de ces hommes est precieu;K. et il est de l'interet general qu'il ne soit pas gaspille. Le probleme a resoudre ne se limite pas ala question de la longueur exageree des reunions de l'Assemblee: il y a egalement le probleme beaucoup plus important qui 'The first five or six weeks of this Assembly were a prolonged debauch of unorganized discussion. During the first three quarters of this second part of the first session, we accomplished only about one-quarter of our work. That made it necessary for us to try to get through the remaining three-quarters of our work in the quarter of the time which remained to us before the Queen Elizabeth sailed. It has been auggested in the General Committee that it would be sufficient if the Secretariat were to .draft proposals for reforms in the practices and roles of procedure of the Assembly and to present these proposals to the next session, of the Assembly. The problem, however, of persuading the next session of the Assembly to adopt improvements in its practices and rules, falls into two parts: the drafting of the necessary reforms and the acceptance of those reforms by the Assembly. The chances of the Assembly, next September, accepting the necessary reforms will be much better if the proposals are not from the Secretariat but from a committee of the Members of the Assembly, and that is not intended as a reflection on our very efficient Secretariat. r am confident that the committee on procedure and organization which we are appointing today, will present to the Assembly next September most valuable recommendations for reform. I hope that the Assembly next September will be willing to adopt unanimously and without debate on the opening day of the next st,.'<lSion the committee's recommendations and to apply them provisionally throughout that second scs;iLm. The Canadian delegation has set forth at length in its memorandum of 29 November, it:; specific suggestions for reforms in the practices and rules of procedure of the Assembly. The Canadian delegation hopes that all Mem-. hers of the United Nations will respond to the invitation contained in the resolution now before us, and will forthwith forward to the Secretary- General their suggestions for economizing the time of the Assembly and for revising the provisional rules of procedure. The streamlining of this Assembly is a question of common concern to all Members of the United Nations. All of us wish to see the General Assembly of the United Nations operate with dignity as well as despatch. La delegation canadienne espere que tous Ies Membres de 1'Organisation accueiIIeront favorablement 1'invitation que contientla resolution actuellement soumise al'AssembIee et feront connaitre sans retard au Secretaire general les mesures qu'ils suggcrent pour economiser le temps de l'Assemblee et modifier son reglement provisoire. Tous les Etats Membres des Nations Unies ont interet a ce que cette AssembIee adopte des methodes rationnelles· et tous ici souhaitent voir l'Assemblee generale des Nations Unies travailler avec dignite, et aussi avec dili:. gence. .., .. . Et maintenant, MonsIeur le PreSIdent, il me Mr. GROMYKO (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics): The delegation of the Soviet Union expressed its opinion on this question in the course of the meetings of the General Committee. We are in favour of all provisions listed in the first part of this resolution, but we cannot agree with the proposal contained in the last paragraph of the resolution. Therefore, I would like to ask you to put to the vote separately the last paragraph of the resolution.

You have heard tlit: statl';;l-':dl Df the Soviet delegation, which does not agree with the last paragraph. Consequently, we will vote first on the resolution, excluding the last paragraph, and afterwards on the last paragraph. Mr. GROMYKO (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics): May I say a few words to explain the reasons why we cannot agree with the last paragraph? We consider that such functions can be succ~fuIly carried out by the Secretariat.

We shall vote on the resolution excluding the last paragraph.

We shall vote 011 the last paragraph of the resolution.

We shall vote on the report as a whole.

For the Committee I propose the following fifteen: Argentina, Belgium) Canada, China, Cuba, ?enmark, France, Greece) Haiti, Peru, Ukrain- Ian Soviet Socialist Republic) United Kingdom, United States of America) Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Yugoslavia. M. GROMYKO (Union des Republiques socialistes sovietiques) (traduit de l'anglais) : La delegation de l'Union sovietique a exprime S011 opinion a ce sujet au cours des seances du Bureau de l'Assemblee: nous sommes partisans de toutes les dispositions de la premiere partie de la resolution, mais nous ne pouvons admettre la proposition contenue dans le dernier paragraphe de celle-ci. En consequence, je demanderai que le dernier paragraphe de la resolution soit rnis aux voix separement. Le PRESIDENT: Vous avez entendu la declaration de la delegation sovietique qui n'est pas d'accord sur le dernier paragraphe. En consequence, nous voterons d'abord la resolution a l'exclusion du dernier paragraphe, puis le dernier paragraphe. M. GROMYKO (Union des Republiques socialistes sovietiques) (traduit de l'anglais): Puis-je expliquer en quelques mots les raisons pOUf lesquelles nollS ne pouvons admettre le dernier paragraphe? NollS estimons que le Secretariat peut parfaitement s'acquitter d'une tache de ce genre. Le PRESIDENT: NollS allons voter sur la resolution jusqu'au dernier paragraphe non compris. Decision: La resolution, a l'exclusion du demier paragraphe, est adoptee al'unanimite.

The General Committee of the Assembly has received a letter from the Security Council informing it that the Council had agreed unanimously to accept Siam's application for membership. ]n order to speed up proceedings, the General Committee did not consider it necessary to refer the question to a special committee, but proposes the following resolution to the Assembly direct: "The General AssemblYJ ul!aving taken note of the application for membership submitted to the Organization of the United Nations by Siam, "And of the reconimendations of the Security Council on the admission of Siam to membership in the United Nations, U DecidesJ therefore: "That SlAM be admitted to membership in the United Nations." Mr. Wellington KOD ( China): China, as a close neighbour and asa sister nation in Asia, with many ties of culture and tradition, cherishes a profound sentiment of sympathy and friendship for Siam and the Siamese people. We of the Chinese delegation sincerely believe the Siamese nation has its part to play in this world Organization for peace and happiness. 'We arc, therefore, gratified that Siam's application for membership in the United Nations has come before us with the unanimous recommendation of the Security Council. and we hope that likewise it will be unanimously approved by the General Assembly. 1·fr. }YfENoN (India): The delegation of India, on behalf of the people and the Government of India, is very happy to associate itself with the observations made by 'the representative of China and to record its support of the decision reached by the Security Council. We look forward to a happy association with our neighbour with whom we have been connected over many years, and we also think it a happy augury, that Siam may be the first of our neighbours preceding the Republic of Indonesia and Burma, to join us as equal partners in this Assembly. Mr. ROMULO (Philippine Republic): The Philippine Republic welcomes the application of Siam for mert1bership in the United Nations. The relations between the people of the Philippines and the people of Siam have been for centuries of a most friendly and mutually bene·ficial character. As one of the few countries of Asia which have been able to retain some measure of Le PRESIDENT: Le Bureau de J'Assemblee a ete saisi d'un Icttre du Conseil de sccurite lui faisant savoir que· la candidature du Siam avait ete acceptee par le Conseil a. l'unanimite. Afin d'acceIerer la procedure, le Bureau n'a pas juge necessaire de renvayer la question a une commission speciale, et propose directement a. l'Assembh~e la resolution suivante: UL'AssembUe generale, UAyant pr"is note de la deinande d'admission adressee a. l'Organisation des Nations Unies par le Siam, "Et des recommandations du Conseil de recurite sur l'admission du Siam comme Membre des Nations Unies; «Pour ces motifs, decide: "Que le SIAM sera admis comme Membre des Nations Unies." M. Wellington Koo (Chine) (traduit de ['anglais): La Chine, que de nombreux liens culturels et traditionnels unissent au Siam, Etat voisin et nation sreur d'Asie, nourrit un pro· fond sentiment de sympathie et d'amitie pour cc pays et pour le peuple siamois. Les membres de la delegation chinoise sont sincerement convaincus, que le peuple siamois a son rOle a. jouer dans cette organisation mandiale dont l'objet est d'instaurer la paix et le bonheur. Naus sommes .donc tres heureux d'apprendre que la demande faite par le Siam en vue d'ctre admis dans I'Organisation des Nations Unies a ete transmise a. I'Assemblee avec la recommandation unanime -du Conseil de securite et nous esperons ·qu'elle sera egalement· approuvee, a l'unanimite, par l'AssembIee generale. . M. MENON (Inde) (traduit de ['anglais); La delegation de l'Inde est heureuse,· au nom du peuple et du Gouvernement de I'Inde, de s'associer aux observations faites par le representant de la Chine et d'appuyer ,la decision prise par le Conseil de securite. Nous esperans travailler en bonne harmonie avec ce pays voisin avec lequel nous avons des liens depuis de nombreuses annees; nous pensons que son admission est d'un bon augure et precede la venue parmi nous, sur un pied d'egalite, d'autres voisins, la Republique d'Indonesie et la Binnanie. M. ROMULO (Republique des Philippines) (traduit de l'anglais) : La RepubEque des Philip; pines accueille avec joie la demande d'admission du Siam comme Membre des Nations Unies. Les relations entre le peuple des Philippines et le peuple du Siam ont eu, pendant des siecles, un caractere des plus amical et des plus profitable pOUT lesdeux p~uples. L'~n des rares pays d'Asie We ask for the unanimous approval of Siam's application for membership in the United Nations.

You have the draft resolution before you. If there is no objection, I shall consider Siam admitted to membership in the United Nations. Deci:-ion: Siam was (1dmitted by unanimous agreement to mernbership in the United Nations. The PlmSIlJlmT (translated from French); As it was not possible to complete the diplomatic formalities today, we shall not be able to receive the Siamese dele~ation in our midst officially. I am sure, howe\..er, that I am speaking for the entire A~sembly in congratulating Siam on her admission and in hoping that she will be with us next time. I am sure that I she will participate in our work in a spirit of international understanding and harmony. 208. Question of holding the second regular session of the General Assembly in Europe (document A/281) The PRESmJ~NT (translated from French): You will doubtless remember that the Ukrain- .ian delegation addressed a letter to the Secretary-General proposing that the next General Assembly of our Organization should be held in Europe. We decided at an earlier meeting that this question would be settled when the headquarters site had been chosen. You have before you today document A/281 (annex 100) containing the proposal summarizing the Ukrainian representative's letter. I call upon Dr. Medved, representative of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Dr. MED'VED (Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic) (translated from Russian): The head of the Ukrainian delegation, Mr. Manuilsky, submitted to the General Committee and the General Assembly, for examination, the proposal of the Government of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic regarding the convening of the second regular !icssion of the General Assembly in Europe. I would remind you that this proposal was made at a time when we were still discuSsing the question of the permanent site for the United Nations. I would remind you that the Ukrainian delegation, among many others, favoured the establishment of the permanent headquarters of the United Nations in the New York area, while the United States delegation Le PRESIDENT: Vous avez le projet de resolution clevant VOllS. S'il n'y a pas d'objection; je considererai que le Siam est admis comme Membre des Nations Unies. Decision: Le Siam est admis al'unanimite comme iUembre des Nations Unies. Le PRESIDENT: Les formalites diplomatiques n'ayant pas pu etre remplies aujourd'hui, il ne sera pas possible de recevoir officicllement la delegation siamoise parmi nons. Je suis cependant certain d'ctre l'interprete de l'Assemblee tout enticre en felicitant le Siam pour son admission et en souhaitant qu'il. puisse sieger parmi nous la prochaine fois. Je suis sur qu'il prendra part a nos travaux dans un esprit de comprehension et de concorde internationales. 208. Question de la convocation en Europe de 10 seconde session ordinaire de I'Assemblt~e generale (document AI 28H Le PRESIDENT: Vous vous rappellerez sans doute que la delegation de l'Ukraine a fait parvenir une lettre au Secretaire general dans laquelle dIe'proposait que la prochaine AssembUe de notre Organisation se tienne en Europe. Nous avons decide, aune seance precedente, que cette question serait tranchee lorsque le siege de l'Organisation des Nations Unies aurait ete choisi. VOllS avez aujourd'hui, sous les yeux, le document A/281 qui contient une proposition resumant la lettre du representant de I'Ukraine (annexe 100). Je donne la parole au Dr Medved, representant de la Republique socialiste sovietique d'Ukraine. Dr MEDVED (Republique socialiste sovietique d'Ukraine) (traduit du rum): M. Manuilsky, chef de la delegation ukrainienne, a soumis au Bureau et al'Assemblee generale une proposition de la Republique sovietique socialiste d'Ukraine, seIon Iaquelle la deuxieme session ordinaire de l'Assemblee generale doit etre tenue en Europe. Qu'iI me soit permis de rappe1er que cette proposition a ete faite alors que nous discutions encore de l'emplacement du siege permanent des Nations Unies. La delegation ukrainienne, comme beaucoup d'autres, s'est prononcee pour l'ctablisscment du siege permanent de l'Organisation dans la ville de New-York, tandis que la delegation americaine prefCrait San-Francisco, Permit me to explain the motives for our proposal. The :first problem is that of the need of premises for the session. It is quite obvious that, even under the most favourable circumstances and with the maximum expedition of work, it is hardly likely that the construction programme for the new area where we intend to establish ourselves permanently will be ready in time for the next session. We could hastily adapt some other temporary premises, but this would be an unjustified waste of enormous sums of money.. We have had experience of this and, if we decide to call the next session here in the United States of America, we shall probably have to work at Flushing and Lake Success. I do not think I need enlarge on the fact· that this is inconvenient, and that these journeys of an hour to and from the city take up a great deal of our valuable time. The inconvenient location of these premises has wasted much time during this session, has created additional difficulties for all of us, and has also created additional difficulties for the Secretariat. In making this proposal, we also had in mind the following considerations. I would remind you that the first conference of the United Nations, where the Charter of the United Nations was established, was held at San Francisco. The first part of this session took place in London, in the British Isles. The present session is being held' on the continent of America, in the United States, in the neighbourhood of the pennanent headquarters of the United Nations. The result of this is that countries of the continent of Europe, which have suffered more than any others through the war, and are particularly interested in the activities of this Organization which is called upon to defend the maintenance of peace and security, have not yet seen the Organization on their own territory. The work of the Council of Foreign Ministers has now been completed and the five peace treaties for Germany's allies· have been successfully established. By the time of the next session of the General Assembly, success will doubtless be achieved in relation to the other treaties. That is why we consider that the time has come when European countries' can expect the regular session of the United Nations to be convened in Europe. We do not insist as yet on this particular question, but the purpose might be served by the splendid, but vacant, buildings of the former League of Nations in Geneva. We must Ainsi que nous l'avions declare, nous etioos done pour l'etablissement du siege permanent a New-York. Aujourd'hui cette question est resolue. Nous sommes heureux que notre proposition ait ete adoptee, et que l'Organisation des Nations Unies ait accepre d'etablir son siege permanent a New-York. Aussi esperons-nous maintenant que notre deuxieme proposition sera, egalement approuvee et adoptee. Permettez-moi de vous exposer nos mobiles. Premierement, il est necessaire de trouver des locaux pour cette deuxieme session. 11 est evident que dans les conditions les plus favorables, et meme en poussant les travaux autant que faire se peut, le projet de construction des nouveaux batiments du siege permanent ne pourra guere ctre acheve pour la prochaine session. On peut sans doute mettre en etat, a la hate, que1quesuns des autres locaux dont nous pourri.ons disposer, mais cela entrainerait de tres grosses depenses, tout a fait injustifiees. A en juger par l'experience, nous avons tout lieu de cro~e que si nous decidons· de tenir la prochaine session ordinaire ici, aux Etats-Unis, nos reunions devront avoir lieu aFlushing et aLake Success. Je crois inutile de vous rappeler les inconvenients qui s'ensuivraient, les heures precieuses que nous perdrions en nous transportant chaque fois de New-York en banlieue et vice-versa. L'emplacement defectueux des locaux nous a fait perdre beaucoup de temps pendant la presente session, en nous causant atous, aux delegations aussi bien qu'au Secretariat, un surcroit d'embarras. D'autre part, notre proposition tient compte egalement des considerations suivantes. La premiere conference des Nations Dnies, celle qui a etabli la Charte, a eu lieu a San-Francisco. La premiere partie de la premiere session de l'Assemblee generale s'est tenue a Londres, dans les lIes Britanniques. La presente session Se tient sur le continent americain, au siege permanent des Nations Unies. Ainsi les pays du continent europeen, qui ont plus que les autres souffert de la guerre, et qui ont un interet tout particulier a suivre les travaux d'une Organisation appelee a lutter pour le maintien de la paix et. de la. securite, n'ont pas encore vu fonctionner chez eux l'Organisation des Nations Unies. Aujourd'hui, les travaux du Conseil des Minis. tres des Maires etrangeres sont termines, et les cinq traites de paix avec les allies de l'Allemagne ont ete conc1us d'une fat;on satisfaisante. D'ici la prochaine session de l'Assemblee generale, il est probable que nous assisterons egalement a une heureuse conclusion des autres traites. C'est pourquoi nous estimons qu'aujourd'hui les pays europeens peuvent demander a bon droit que la prochaine session de l'AssembIee se tienne en Europe. Pour le moment, je n'insistepas sur le choix du lieuou se tiendrait la session; ce pourrait ctre Geneve, ou se tr0l;lvent les magnifiques I beg you to support us in this.

I call upon Mr. Wells, representative ofthe United Kingdom. Mr. WELLS (United Kingdom) : I very much regret that I cannot join with my Ukrainian colleague in supporting this proposal. I would very much like to do so as it happens to be the last item on this agenda, and I feel that it would be nice if we could close this Assembly on a note of unanimity. However, I feel that it should be pointed out that there are very good reasons why the next Assembly should not be held in Europe. We feel that much of the experience gained during this Assembly could produce really good results if followed up here on Le PRESIDENT: Je donne la parole a M. Wells, representant du Royaume-Uni. M. WELLS (Royaume Uni) (traduit de lJanglais): Je regrette beaucoup de ne pouvoir me joindre au representant de I'Ukraine pour appuyer cette proposition. J'aurais aime le faire, car II se trouve que cette proposition constitue le dernier point de 1'0rdre du jour et II me semble qu'll serait bon de voir I'Assemblee finir sur une note de concorde unanime. Toutefois, je crois devoir faire observer qu'il y a de tres bonnes raisons pour que 1'on ne tienne pas la prochaine Assemblee en Europe. A notre avis, une grande partie de l'experience que nous avans Here at Flushing and· at Lake Success, there is involved the installation and the training of the staff as well as the question of experience. It would not be wise to deprive the staff of the opportunity which is now offered or will be offered as a result of the improvements that have already been approved and that will shortly be put into operation. And so we ask: why stop, why hamper the training of personnel at this very early stage? To me, this appears to be a waste not only of manpower but also of money and of time. Let the staff gain experience here, the place of original installation. If you go overseas for your next year's Assembly, you will take large numbers of the staff with you, and they will need to be there many months ahead of the conference time. There is also the question of transport which we all know presents a great problem. As we heard during the discussion on the question of the world shortage of cereals, transport constituted a very serious and formidable bottleneck. We may be able to do little to alleviate the situation in regard to the shortage of transport, but at least this great Assembly should do nothing to intensify it. It is far too serious a matter to those people who are trying to eke out an existence on something around 1,200 or 1,500 calories. Then, there is the question of cost. I know that this is of secondary importance, particularly in an Assembly where we talk glibly and casually in terms of millions of pounds, but I do feel that if we are in a position to save one and a half million dollars and that, I understand, is a very conservative estimate of the additional cost of holding our next Assembly in Europe, then I feel that is a saving that we should make. AA I have already indicated, the real objection is the certainty that a splendid chance of running our machine smoothly will be thrown away, with a great loss to future efficiency. It would perhaps be wise for some of the organs of the United Nations to meet in Europe such as, for instance, the Economic and Social Council, and perhaps the Trusteeship Council. But to remove the whole Assembly there would in the view . of my delegation be quite wrong at this stage.

I still have two speakers on my list and I fear others may wish to speak. The question is delicate and important, and I was wondering if I could not suggest a compromise solution to the Assembly. I would remind you that rule 5 of our rules of procedure reads: "Sessions shall be held at the headquarters of the United Nations unless convened elsewhere in pursuance of a decision of the General Assembly at a previous session or at the request of the majority of the Members of the United Nations." The question is complicated by being raised at 11.45 p.m. on the last day of the session and because we have no report before us and have not been able to consider the arguments for and against. Would it not be prudent to aRk the Secretary- General to submit a report and for us to communicate our answers later? The Secretary- General might send a report to each Member, say, by 31 IVfarch 1947. We could let him have our reply by 15 :May and, if the majority were to be in favour, that would amount to a decision to go to Europe. I think that in a question which raises so many administrative and budgetary issues, such a procedure would be infinitely more prudent than to come to a last-minute decision without a repOlt before us. I call upon Mr. Makin, representative of Australia. Mr. MAKIN (Australia): I do not want to argue about the position, but I just wish to suggest that, if your ideas are put into operation, all delegations are entitled to know what effect this will have upon the budgetary position of this Organization, as well as whether it is practicable to implement the suggestion of a conference in Europe next year. I think that the Secretariat should provide Members with this information in the fullest way possible.

I call upon Mr. Gromyko, representative of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Mr. GROMYKO (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) (translated from Russian): Although the question raised by the Ukrainian delegation is not one of the most important questions discussed at the present session of the General Assembly, in the opinion of the Soviet Union delegation it nevertheless deserves attention. I wish to submit a few considerations in support of the proposal made here by the· delegation of the Ukraine. As we know, a number of international conferences have taken place in the United States of America of late, especially during the past two years, including the San Francisco Conference, the significance of which is known to everybody, and the present session of the General Assembly. These conferences took place in the United States of America. Delegations often composed of a considerable number of members had to be sent at great expense to the Governments concerned. It seems to the Soviet Union delegation that due heed should be paid to that consideration in deciding the question of the site of the next session of the General Assemblv in connexion with the Ukrainian proposal. For the sake of European countries in particular, and also for countries situated near Europe, the next regular session should be convened in Europe. For some countries, for example, the countries of Latin America, it is practically immaterial from the point of view of distance where the next Assembly takes place, whether in the United States of America or in Europe. At any rate it seems to the Soviet Union delegation that it must be a matter of indifference to most or many of the countries of Latin America as far as distance is concerned. I remember that during the debates regarding the permanent site of the United Nations which took place il1' London at the General Assembly and in the Preparatory Commission, this argument was put forward by the countries in favour of the proposal that the permanent site of the United Nations should be in Europe. There are, of course, countries for which it is convenient that international conferences, ill- ~e n'est pas comme representant de l'Iran que Je parle; la delegation de l'Iran, en efIet, serait tres heureuse de voir non seulement une f(jis, mais de temps en temps, l'Assemblee generale en Europe. Mais, comme Rapporteur sur la question du siege, je dois attirer l'attention de l'AssembIee sur la decision prise par eUe hier et par laqueUe eUe a charge le Secretaire general, de concert avec un Comite consultatif et des experts, de faire des recommandations portant sur. les blitiments et plans que l'Assemblee generale aura a examiner lors de sa prochaine session ordinaire. Si la prochaine session n'est pas tenue a New-York, il sera tres difficile pour l'Assemblee d'examiner cette .question. Le PRESIDENT: Je donne la parole a M. Gromyko, representant de rUnion des Republiques socialistes sovietiques. . M. GROMYKO (Union des Republiques socialistes sovietiques) (traduit du russe): Bien que la question soulevee par la delegation ukrainienne ne soit pas rune des plus importantes de celles qu'examine la presente session de I'Assemblee generale, nous n'en estimons pas moins que cette question merite notre attention. Je voudrais vous exposer quelques-unes des raisons qui viennent a l'appui de la proposition ukrainienne. Ces derniers temps, et notamment depuis deux ans, un certain nombre de conferences internationales ont eu lieu aux Etats- Unis, y compris la Conference de San-Francisco, dont nous connaissons tous la portee, ainsi que la session actuelle de l'Assemblee generale. Ces conferences se sont tenues aux Etats-Unis d'Amerique; il a fallu envoyer des delegations d'un effectif souvent important, ce qui a entrame de grands frais pour les Gouvernements. La delegation sovietique estime que l'on devrait tenir compte de cette consideration en tranchant la question de l'endroit Oll se tiendra la prochaine session de l'AssembIee generale, question qu'a soulevee la delegation ukrainienne. Par egard pour les pays europeens, et aussi pour les pays voisins, c'est en Europe qu'il convient de tenir la prochaine session ordinaire. Pour un certain nombre de pays, par exemple ceux de I'Amerique latine, il importe peu, quant a la distance, que la prochaine AssembIee se tienne aux Etats-Unis ou en- Europe. Cela vaut nous semble-t-il, pour la majorite ou tout au moins pour un grand nombre des pays de l'Amerique latine. Je me rappelle qu'au cours des debats sur le siege permanent de l'Organisation, qui ont eu lieu a Londres, a l'Assemblee generale et a la Commission preparatoire, cet argument a ete invoque par les pays qui proposaient d'etablir en Europe le siege permanent des Nations Unies. Bien enten,du, i1 y a despays pour lesquels il est commode de tenir aux Etats-Unis les con- I remember that in London the representatives of the United Kingdom fought for the choice of Europe as a permanent site. It seems to me that nothing has changed in the course of one year. In any event the distances have remained the same. In the opinion of the Soviet Union delegation it would be extremely desirable that th«; next session be held in Europe, in view of the fact that this will not complicate the preparations for establishing the United Nations here in the United States but will rather facilitate them, inasmuch as no small efforts are required for carrying out the necessary preparatory work in connexion with the establishment of the United Nations in New York. From this point of view also holding the next regular session in Europe cannot but be advantageous. As far as financial considerations are concerned nobody has yet proved that it would turn out any more expensive to the United Nations to hold the next session in Europe than in the United States.

I will put the text of the following resolution to the vote: "The General Assembly of the United Nations resolves to convene the second regular session of the General Assembly of the United Nations in Europe and authorizes the Secretary-General to determine the place in Europe where the second session of the General Assembly shall be convened."

The result of the voting is as follows: Votes for: Argentine, Bolivia, Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Chile, China, Czechoslovakia, france, Guatemala, India, Poland, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, United States of America, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Yugoslavia. . Votes against: Afghanistan, Australia, Belgmm, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Greece, Haiti, Honduras, Iceland, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Liberia, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippine Republic, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Union of South Africa, United Kingdom, Uruguay. Le representant du Royaume-Uni vient de presenter ici des objections a la proposition ukrainienne. De l'avis de la delegation sovietique, les arguments britanniques ne sont pas assez pertinents pour qu'il faille rejeter la proposition de convoquer la prochaine session en Europe. Je me souviens du zele dont les representants britanniques ont fait preuve a Londres en reclamant que le siege permanent soit etabli en Europe. Il me semble que rien n'a pu changer en l'espace d'un an. Les distances, en tout cas, sont restees les memes. De l'avis de la delegation sovietique, il serait extremement souhaitable de tenir la prochaine' session ordinaire en Europe, puisque ceIa ne compliquerait pas les preparatifs en vue de l'installation de l'Organisation aux Etats-Unis, mais au contraire les faciliterait, car les travaux preparatoires en vue de l'installation de l'Organisation a New-York exigeront beaucoup d'efforts. Il nollS semble qu'a ce point de vue egalement, la reunion de la prochaine Assemblee en Europe ne peut etre que desirable. Quant a l'aspect financier de la question, personne jusqu'ici n'a pu demontrer qu'une session tenue en Europe entrainerait plus de frais pour les Nations Unies qu'une session aux Etats-Unis d'Amerique. Le PRESIDENT: Je mets aux voix le texte de resolution suivant: "L'Assemblee generale des Nations Unies decide que l'Assemblee generale des Nations Unies tiendra sa deuxieme session ordinaire en Europe. Elle autorise le Secretaire general a fixer le lieu ou se tiendra, en Europe, la deuxiem.e session de l'Assemblee generale". Le PRESIDENT: Voici le resultat du vote: Votent pour: Argentine, Bolivie, Republique sodaliste sovietique de Bielorussie, Chili, Chine, Tchecoslovaquie, France, Guatemala, Inde, Pologne, Republique socialiste sovietique d'Uk- raine, Etats-Unis d'Amerique, Union des Repu- bIiques socialistes sovietiques, Yougoslavie. V otent contre: Afghanistan, Australie, Bel- gique, Canada, Colombie, Costa-Rica, Cuba, Danemark, Republique Dominicaine, Equateur, Egypte, Salvador, Grece, HaIti, Honduras, Islande, Iran, Irak, Liban, Liberia, Luxem- bourg, Mexique, Pays-Bas, Nouvelle-Zelande, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Perou, Repu- blique des Philippines, Arabie saoudite, Syrie, Turquie, Union Sud-Africaine, Royaume-Uni, Uruguay. 209. Rules governing the admission of new Members to the United Nations. Appointment of members to the Com- mittee on procedure

The President of the Security Council has informed me that that body has appointed a committee composed of the representative of China, acting as Chairman, and the representatives of Brazil and Poland, to draw up, in collaboration with a Committee on procedure to be established by the General Assembly, rules stipulating the conditions for admitting new Members to the United Nations Organization1. We have to appoint the members of the Committee on procedure of the General Assembly. 1 suggest that we adhere to the provisions laid down for the Committee on the admission of new Members to the United Nations, amongst others that there should be five representatives of the General Assembly, that is, two more than in the case of the Security Council. Mr. ENTEZAM (Iran) (translated from French): I do not quite understand why the Security Council itself has chosen the Chainnan of this Committee, and I wonder if it was competent to do so. I think that it is rather the function of the Committee to elect its own Chairman. I am sure that if the name 6f the repre- Iic!Jtative of China is proposed, the Committee wiII approve it with enthusiasm.

The reason is that the representative of China has been chosen as Chairman of the Committee of the Security Council. I think we should leave this question to be considered by the Committee, which will settle it itself. In any case, we cannot settle it because the Security Council is not here. I suggest that the Committee should consist of five members. If there is no objection, I shall consider that proposal adopted. The President's proposal was adopted. I suggest that this Committee on procedure should consist of the following countries: Australia, Cuba, India, Norway and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. If there is no objection, I shall consider it agreed to constitute the Committee thus. Decision: The membership of the Committee as proposed by the President was adopted. 209. Regres pour I'admission de nouveaux Membres de l'Organisation des Nations Unies. Nomination des membres de la Commission de procedure Le PRESIDENT: Le President du Conseil de securite m'a fait savoir que cet organisme avait nomme une Commission composee du representant de la Chine comme President et des representants du Bresil et de la Pologne; cette Commissiotl doit se concerter avec une Corn· mission de procedure a creer par l'Assemblee generale en vue de preparer un reglement fixanl les conditions d'admission des nouveaux Membres de l'Organisation des Nations Unies1• Nous devons designer les Membres de la Commission de procedure a creel' par l'AssembIee generaie. le propose qu'on s'en tienne aux dispositiom qui ont ete prevues pour le Comite d'admission des nouveaux Membres dans I'Organisation des Nations Unies, et notamment que les representants de I'AssembICe generale soient au nombre de cinq, c'est-a-dire deux de plus que ceux dtl Conseil de securite. M. ENTEZAM (Iran): le n'ai pas bien compris pourquoi le Conseil de securite a choisi luimeme le President de eette Commission, et je me demande s'il avait competence pour le faire. le crois plutot que c'est ala Commission a nommer elle-meme son President. Je suis certain que si le nom du representant de la Chine est propose, la Commission l'approuvera avec enthousiasme, Le PRESIDENT: La raison en est que le representant de la Chine a ete designc comme President de la Commission du Conseil de securite, Je crois que nous devrions laisser cette question a l'examen de cette Commission qui la resoudra eIle-meme. NOils ne pouvons d'ailleurs pas la regler, puisque le Conseil de securite n'est pas ici, le propose done que la Commission de procedure de.!'AssembIee se compose de einq membres. S'il n'y a pas d'objeetion, je considererai que cette proposition est adoptee, La proposition du President est adoptee. Je suggere que cette Commission de procedure soit composee des pays suivants: Australie, Cuba, Inde, Norvege, Union de.~ Republiques socialistes sovietiques'. S'il n'y a pas d'objection, je cCinsidererai que cette composition de la Commission est adoptee. Decision: La composition de la Commission de proeedure proposee par le President est adoptee. Speech by the representative of the United States of America Mr. AUSTIN (United States of America): I know that I speak for all of the people of the United States when I say to you, the Members of this Assembly, that our gratitude is boundless. You, the representatives of the people of the world, first of all paid us the honour of choosing New Yark as the scene of these deliberations. Then you paid us the higher honour of choosing New York City, our greatest American city, as the permanent home of the United Nations, as the geographical centre of the world's hope for peace. Most of all, on behalf of the people of the United States, I wish to thank the Members of this Assembly for what they have accomplished. . Eight weeks ago this Assembly opened in an atmosphere of mingled fear and hope. The people hoped for the best but many doubted that !the Assembly would accomplish much. They .feared that on anything important the bigger nations would disagree and that the influence of the s~aller nations would be dissipated in mere talk. They wondered whether anything real could be accomplished with regard to disarmament; whether the Trusteeship System would ever be set up; whether the United Nations would be able to decide on its permanent home; whether the issues of Spain, the veto, human rights, relief for hungry peoples and help to refugees could end in anything but hopeless disagreement. On all these issues this Assembly has met the test. It has more than met it. Starting with the ink and paper Charter, we progressed from positive disagreement. and scepticism as to the solution of the great· problems confronting us, to a newly discovered harmony, to almost unanimous agreement. I think that we have established the essential reality of the United Nations. In the definitive resolution, .stating the principles and priorities for a genuine international system for the control, regulation and reduction of armaments, the Assembly has proved its power to promote unanimous agreement among the great nations on those things that are most important for the future of mankind. It has proved on this and all-other major issues the power of the small nations to influence decisions in the direction of the right. Above all, this session has proved the power of the General Assembly as the supreme deliberative body of the world.. Discours du representant des Etats-Unis d'Amerique M. AUSTIN (Etats-Unis d'Amerique) (traduit de l'anglais): le sais que j'exprime le sentiment de tous les hilbitants des Etats-Unis en disant aux Membres de cette Assemblee que notre gratitude envers eux est infinie. Messieurs les repre- .sentants, vous qui representez les peuples du monde, VOllS nous avez fait tout d'abord le tres grand honneur de cho\sir l'Etat de New-York pour le lieu devos deliberations. Puis, vous nous avez fait l'honneur plus grand encore de choisir la ville de New-York, la plus grande des cites d'Amerique, pour etre le siege permanent de 1'Organisation des Nations Unies, le centre geographique vers lequelle monde tournera ses espoirs depaix. Et surtout au nom du peuple des Etats- Unis, je desire remercier les Membres de cette Assemblee pour le travail qu'ilsont accompli. Il y a huit semaines, cette Assemblee s'est ouverte dans une atmosphere ou la crainte se melait a 1'espoir. On s'efforc;ait de garder confi:ance mais beaucoup se demandaient si I'Assemblee pourrait· faire grand-chose. Onredoutait que sur un point important que1conque les grandes nations ne puissent se mettre d'accord et que le role des petites nations ne, depasse pas le stade des mots. On se demandait si un pas pourrait veritablement etre fait dans la voie du desarmement, si le regime de tutelle serait jamais institue, si 1'0rganisation des Nations Unies serait capable de fixer son siege permanent, si la question d'Espagne. sur celles du veto, des droits de 1'homme, des secours a donner atous ceux qui ont faim et de l'aide aux refugies, on aboutirait aautre chose qu'a un desaccord' sans issue. Et .sur toutes ces questions, I'Assemblee est sortie victorieuse de l'epreuve. Elle a meme fait davantage. Armes, audepart, du seul texte de la Charte, nous sommes passes d'un desaccord veritable et du scepticisme, a la solution des grands 'problemes qui se posaient a nous, a une harmonie tout recemment decouverte, puis a l'accord presque unanime. Je crois que nous avons mantre que l'existence des Nations Unies est un fait, et un fait essentiel. Dans la resolution definitive qui enonce les principes et les conditions primordiales d'un vrai systeme international de contr8le, de reglementation et de reduction des armeinents, l'Assemblee a prouve qu'elle etait assez forte pour ereer l'accord unanime, parmi les grandes Puissances, sur les questions qui sont les plus importantes pour 1'avenir de l'humanite. Dans ce domaine ainsi que dans toutes les autres questions fondamentales, l'Assemblee a montre . le pouvoir dont disposent les petites nations pour orienter les decisions dans le sens de la justice. Par-dessus tout, cette session aprouve la puis~ sance de l'Assemblee ,generale en tant que supreme assemblee deliberante du rnonde. Lorsque j'ai pris la parole a la seance d'ouver- . In the wide embrace of the Assembly, as in the shadow of a great rock, all races andnations may be enfolded for peace and happ~ess. This session of the General Assembly has gIven the world its first demonstration, the first of many yet to come, of the tremendous scope of the power implicit in that word "recommend". The Members of the United Nations are sovereign States. Recognition of their sovereign equality is a basic principle of the Charter. But this Assembly has given life to a new concept. It has mobilized here the public opinion of the world. Forceful expression has been given to that opinion. It has influenced our discussions and shaped the results we have achieved. This is the new, the higher sovereignty of the peoples' will. This is the sovereignty of the decisions of the General Assembly. The peoples of the world have been present through press and radio and film at all of our deliberations. There have been no cut and dried performances for the public here while the realities were fought out behind closed doors. Here we have spoken from our hearts, stoutly defended our views, worked, day and night, towards reconciliation and agreement, all in the full sight and hearing of the world. There has been nothing like this before in the history of nations. The General Assembly gives promise of endless achievement through continued scrutiny of any situation which might impair. the general welfare, and through the public will aroused by its debates and its recommendations. Mr. President, I address a personal word to you and to the distingui~hed Secretary-General on your right. This Assembly owes to both of y~u a debt of gratitude that no representative will ever forget. You, Mr. President, have done more th~ any other man to forge agreement out of disagreement and to bring to fruition the great achievements of this Assembly. And you,. ~r. Secretary-General, and aU the devoted and tireless members of the Secretariat have more than lived up to all the great responsibilities placed upon you by the Charter. .Fe~ow representatives, our President is the prmcIpal representative of Belgium. Our Sec- :etary-General g<:tve up his post as Foreign Min- Ister of Norway to serve the United Nations. In Fellow representatives, your arrival on our coast from your beloved countries was welcomed by the people of the United States and of the City of New York. I believe it is true that if the traveller wishes to carry home the wealth of the Indies he must have brought the wealth of the Indies with him. That is what you have done, You brought with you the spirit of brotherhood. You will take home with you the devoted friendship and respect of the American people. And now we part, to return to our homes throughout the world, with confidence that we can carry on from here with more faith and increasing effectiveness. Your departure will not separate us, for you have established the real unity-the essential concord and brotherhood of the United Nations. The American people wish you God speed and a safe passage to your homes and your loved ones.

T call upon Mr. Try~e Lie, the Secretary- General. Speech by the Secretary-General Mr. Trygve LIE., Secretary-General: May l, first of all, thank the honourable representative of the United States of America for his friendly words to the staff of the United Nations, to the Secretariat, and to myself? May I then include all Members in my thanks for the consideration and the patience which, during eight long weeks, you have shown to the Secretariat and to myself? You have behind you eight weeks' work. May I say that I have never seen any international gathering work like you, day and night, travelling for hours every day in your cars from New York to Lake Success and to Flushing Meadow? I remember a film I saw some years ago. The title was "Congress Dances." It gave me some impressions of international co-operation at that time in history. But thinking of the second part of the first session of the General Assembly in New York, I think you have shown a grand example to the whole world of how representatives of all countries, united in the United Nations, can work. What is the difference between the United Nations today and the Congress which danced some hundred and twenty or thirty years ago? Today almost all countries are in the United Nations, great and small. Today representatives from all groups of each nation are represented in this Assembly: labourers, intellectuals, polio:' ticians from all parties, communists, conserva- Et maintenant, nous nous separons; chacun rentre dans son pays, dans son coin du monde, avec l'assurance que notre travail pourra desormais se poursuivre avec une foi et une efficacite plus grandes. Ce depart n'est pas une separation car vous avez cree la veritable unite, la concorde et la fraternite indispensables aux Nations Unies. Le peuple americain vous souhaite un bon voyage, un heureux retour dans vos foyers aupres de ceux qui vous sont chers. Le PRESIDENT: La parole est aM. Trygve Lie, Secretaire general. Discours du Secretaire general M. Trygve LIE, Secretaire general (traduit de l'anglais): Qu'il me soit permis tout d'abord de remercier l'honorable representant des Etats- Unis d'Amerique pour les aimabIes paroles qu'il a bien voulu adresser au personnel des Nations Unies, au Secretariat et amoi-memc. Puis-je ensuite remercier les Membres de cette Assemblee des egards et de ·la patience que, pendant huit longues semaines, ils ant eus pour le Secretariat et pour moi-meme? Vous avez travaille pendant deux mois. Je n'ai jamais vu les membres d'aucune assembIee internationale travailler comme vous l'avez fait, nuit et jour, tout en passant quotidiennement plusieurs heures en voiture entre New-York, Lake Success et Flushing Meadow. Je me rappelle avoir vu, il y a quelques annees, un film intituIe "Le Congres s'amuse"; yen avais retire une certaine idee de la cooperation internationale de ce temps-la; mais lorsque je pense a la seconde partie de la premiere session de l'Assemblee generale, a New-York, j'ose dire que vous avez donne au monde un bel exemple de la maniere dont les representants de tous les pays que compte l'Organisation des Nations Unies peuvent travailler. Quelle difference, entre les Nations Unies d'aujourd'hui et le Congres qui s'amusait il y a quelque cent vingt ou cent trente ans! Aujourd'hui, presque tous les pays, grands ou petits, font partie des Nations Unies et l'AssemhUe compte des representants de toutes les groupes sociaux de chaque pays: travailleurs, intellectuels, hommes politiques de tous les partis, I think I have to thank you all. And at this time I think it is my duty to convey my.thanks to'the Foreign Ministers who have been in New York and have solved so many difficult proble~ which ,have occupied them all for such a long time. I think that peace is 'something ~hich is no longer merely in the air, but which is more or less taking shape. We can feel it as something more certain than we did some time ago. I think the nations of the world can be proud of their representatives at this Assembly, and especially I think I express the opinion of all the members of the United Nations staff when I convey to our President, Mr. Spaak, our best thanks. We express to you, Mr. Spaak, our deep respect and gratitude. Without you I do not know how we .could have come throu~h all the difficulties, and I thank you for your patience and your understanding in handling me and in handling all the members of the staff. There is another group of ,people to whom I should like to say a few words. They. have never been present officially in the Assembly, but they have been seated in the press gallery. I think that I, as your Secretary-General, have the right to thank all the reporters, the press people, and the radio people because I do not think any international conference has had such good service as this Assembly, and they have all been with us throughout this session, often almost around the clock. I want to express appreciation not only of the tireless efforts, but also of the high sense of importance of the' role of the press and radio, which they have dis- ~a~d. . I wish you all bon voyage, and I hope you will all be here again next year. Speech by the President of the General Assembly Mr. P.-H. SPAAK, President (translated from French): I cannot suppress a broad smile of satisfaction in informing you that our agenda is exhausted. The Secretary-General is also exhausted; Mr. Cordier is also exhausted; the whole Secretariat is exhausted; all the representatives are exhausted, and I am exhausted too. Thus we have a new proof of the virtue of one of the essential rules of our Organization: the unanimity rule. The reason for our exhaustion is that we have done a great deal of work. I do not yet know, although I can gues.'l, how this session will be judged; but one thing is certain: nobody can deny the industry, the good-will and the conscientiousness which have been displayed throughout these eight weeks by all and each of the representatives of the United Nations. The criticism which might be levelled against us is that the session has lasted too long. I do indeed think that this is a danger on which I ought to lay stress. I do not think that we can meet every year for seven or eight weeks and be assured of the presence of all the statesmen whom we need to do our work properly. Our young Organization should not be too ambitious. At times when I have been presiding over your work I have thought of the truth of the proverb: uDo not bite off more than you can chew". Let us be less ambitious, let us deal with fewer subjects, but let us endeavour to bring them to a successful conclusion. When we have thus given proof of our ability to achieve something, the world will be more ready to entrust new matters to our debates. As I was listening to Senator Austin's fine speech and to the remarks of my friend Mr. Trygve Lie, I realized, and I would ask you to ponder this, how difficult it is to be the third speaker on a specific subject. Mr. Austin and myself did not put our heads together at all, but on looking at my notes I am horrified to find that I shall have to repeat exactly all that he has said. In presiding over these debates, what struck me was the difference between our meetings and those of Geneva. I went to Geneva a few times before the war, and I had the impression of being at a meeting of diplomats. !:Iere I have ~ad the distinct impression of being at a meet- Ing of statesmen. I really do think that we have set up a tentative. world parliament, I am not quite sure yet Discours du President de l'Assemblee generale M. P.-H. SPAAK, President: Je ne puis dissimuler un large sourire de contentement en vous annon~ant que notre ordre du jour est ,epuise. Le Secretaire general aussi est epuise; I M. Cordier aussi est epuise; tout le Secretariat est epuise; tous les representants sont epuises, et moi aussi je suis epuise. Ainsi, Messieurs, nous trouvons une nouvelle fois la verification de la vertu d'une des regles essentieIles de notre Organisation: la regIe de l'unanimite. Si nous sommes epuises, c'est que nous avons heaucoup travaille. Je ne sais pas encore, quoique je le devine, que! sera le jugement que ran portera sur ceUe session, mais certainement nul ne pourra contester l'ardeur au travail, la volonte de bien faire et la conscience qui ant ete deployes pendant huit semaines par tous et par chacun des representants des Nations Unies. La critique que l'on pourrait nous adresser c'est que la session a dure trap longtemps. Je pense en effet qu'il y a la un danger sur lequel mon devoir est d'insister. Je ne crois pas que nous puissions nous reunir tous les ans pendant sept ou huit semaines et obtenir le concoul1l de tous les hommes d'Etat dont nous avons besoin pour mener a bien nos travaux. It ne faut pas que notre jeune Organisation soit trop ambitieuse. Quelquefois, en presiclant ces travaux, je me sills dit..que le proverbe fran~ais etait juste: "Qui trop embrasse mal etreint." . Soyons plus modestes, occupons-nous de mains de choses, mais essayons de les mener a bien. Quand nous aurons ainsi prouve nos possibilites de realisation, c'est plus volontiers et plus facilement que l'on confiera de nouveaux sujets anos debats. En entendant le remarquable discours de M. le senateur Austin, et celui de mon ami M. Trygve Lie, je me suis rendu compte, et je vous demande d'y reflechir, de la difficult€ de parler le troisieme sur un sujet precis. Nous ne nous etions pas concertes, M. Austin et moi, et en consultant mes notes, je m'aper~ois avec terreur que je vais etre oblige de repcter exactement tout ce qu'il a dit. . Ce qui m'a frappe, en presidant ces debats, c'est la difference de nos reunions avec ceIles de Geneve. Je suis alle quelquefois a Geneve avant la guerre et j'avais !'impression d'etre clans une reunion de diplomates. Ici, j'ai eu tres nettement l'impression d'ctre dans une rCunion d'hommes politiques. Nous avons cree, je le pense veritablement, un essai de parlement mondial. Je ne suis pas en- We have had more than talent. I have noticed that, much more so than in London, successful delegations were modest in their triumph, and that those which were defeated accepted their defeat without feelings of bitterness or rancour. That, in my opinion, is a very important fact. I have also noticed, I feel bound to say, that at no time was there in ~ Assembly any bloc, or any blocs in opposition to each other. If you have the time, go over the votes which were cast and you will see that there were co~tant changes in the majorities and that one or other great Power in turn obtained a majority, the small Powers voting in turn like one or other of the great PQwers. It has been said that our Organization might perish if opposing and conflicting blocs were formed. What we have seen in actual practice for weeks has proved that there were no blocs but that there was one single internatioJ?al, Organization. We have settled a large number of practical questions: refugees and agreements with specialized agencies. We have come to a final decision on our permanent site; we have settled, with moderation but firmly, some difficult political questions. We have set up the Trusteeship System, thus rounding off our Organization, and lastly, how could I fail to mention what is without doubt the most important decision we have taken, that on disarmament. We ought to thank the delegation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics for having been bold enough to submit this very difficult question to our deliberations. We ought to thank the delegations of the great Powers, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, France and China, for having followed the lead of the Soviet Union on the ground it had chosen, for bringing so much understanding and conciliation towards preparing the motion which was voted. We ought also to thank the representatives of so many small States who played a most important part in this essential question. The decision which we recently voted has raised great hopes. Since San Francisco, since the time when we accepted the Charter, we have accomplished. nothing so important as the motion on disarmament. If in the months and weeks to come the competent organs really succeed in making the texts we have submitted to them a living reality, I think that mankind will have entered a new era, which you have ushered in-a fact of which you may well be proud. J'ai observe egalement, je tiens ale souligner, qu'a aucun moment il n'y a eu dans cette AssembIee un bloc quelconque ou des blocs s'opposant. Si VOllS en avez le temps, revoyez les. votes qui ont ete emis et VOllS verrez que les majorites n'ont pas cesse de changer, et que, tour a tour, l'une ou l'autre des grandes Puissances a obtenu la majorite, les petites Puissances votant tour a tour comme l'une ou l'autre des grandes Puissances. n a ete ditque notre Organisation pouvait perir si des blocs adverses et opposes se formaient. Ce que nous avons vu, pratique et realise depuis des semaines a prouve qu'il n'y avait pas de bloc, mais qu'iI n'y avait qu'une seule Organisation intemationale. Nous avons regIe un grand nombre de questions pratiques: refugies, accords avec les institutions specialisees. Nous avons choisi definitivement notre siege permanent; nollS avons regIe avec moderation mais avec fermete des questions politiques difficiIes; nous avons cree le Regime de tutelle, completant ainsi notre Organisation; et enfin, comment ne pas faire une mention speciale de la decision la plus importante sans doute que nous avons prise, celle du desarmement. Il faut remercier la delegation de rUnion sovietique d'avoir eu l'audace de presenter a nos deliberations cette question si difficile. Il faut remercier les delegations des grandes Puissances: Etats-Unis, Royaume-Uni, France, Chine, d'avoir immediatement suivi l'Union sovietique sur le terrain qu'elle avait choisi et d'avoir contribue avec tant de comprehension et de conciliation a la realisation de la motion qui a ete votee. I1 faut remercier aussi les representants de tant de petits Etats qui ont joue clans cette question essentielle un role capital. Nous avons fait naitre par la decision que nous avons votee I'autre jour une grande esperance. Depuis San-Francisco, depuis l'instant OU nous avons accepte la Charte, nous n'avions rien realise d'aussi important que la motion sur le desarmement. Si vraiment dans les semaines et dans les mois qui viennent, les organismes competents parviennent a faire une realite vivante. des textes que nous leurs avons soumis, je crois qu'alors l'humanite sera entree dans une ere nouvelle dont vousaurez ete les promoteurs, et vous aure£ le droit d'en etre fiers. The final meeting of the second part of the flrst session of the General Assembly of the United Nations rose at 12.45 a.m.· on Monday, 16 December 1946 . Apres taus les autres, je veux remercier ce personnel qui est id au pied de cette tribune, et celui qui travaille derriere moi. Il a fait un travail formidab~e, dont j'ai ete temoin; sans son constant devouement, son abnegation, son ardeur au travail, jamais nous ne serions parvenus au terme de notre tache. Enfin, Messieurs-menagez vos applaudissemenu-je veux VollS remercier tous, vous les representants, pour la gentillesse, l'amabilite et la discipline que VOllS avez montrees au cours de ceUe session. Si, gardien £idele et quelquefois meme interprete des regles de la procedure, j'ai du refuser arun ou al'autre que1que chose qu'il croyait meriter, qu'il ne m'en veuille pas! J'ai pu me tromper quelquefois, mais jamais ma bonne foi n'a puetre mise en doute. VOlls allez vous separer et, dans quelques .heures, quelques jours, vous serez rentres dans vos pays. Je sliis convaincu que vous avez tous le sentiment que le message que vous pouvez rapporter avos Gouvernements et avos peuples est un message de confiance. J'ai souvent dit, dans les discours que j'ai: prononces, que nous ne reussirions a accomplir notre t~che que si nous pratiquions ces deux grandes vertus internationales: la comprehension et la cooperation. En.cloturant cette session, je declare que, plus que je ne l'avais jamais vu auparavant, j'ai vu l'ensemble des representants pratiquer la comprehension et la vertu de cooperation. Nous sonunes aujourd'hui dans la bonne voie. Le message que, d'ici, nous envoyons au monde est un message de c6nfiance et d'espoir. Et je veux croire qu'un jour, pensant au travail que nous avons accompli, nous pourrons nous dire que nous avons ete fiers de participer a la seconde partie de la premiere session. Je declare close la seconde partie de la premiere session de l'Assemblee generale des Nations Unies. La seance de doture de la seconde partie de la premiere session de I'Assemblee generale des Nations Unies est levee Cl 0 h. 45, le lundl 16 decembre 1946