June 1957, Palestinian Refugees

Henry R. Labouisse, director of UNRWA, in an interview in The Middle East Forum, warned:

 “It cannot be denied that the outside observer gains the impression that the Arab governments have no great desire to solve the refugee problem and thus terminate the flow of international subsidy brought into the area by UNRWA and other related international and governmental agencies.

“Finally, it must also be reported that, with the partial exception noted below, the refugees have not been wanted in the countries into which they have fled.  Egypt evacuated the few thousand refugees who fled there, turning them back into the tiny Gaza Strip and maintaining close guard lest any of the 20,000 there slip back.  Lebanon places severe restrictions on the refugees who have fled into her territories.  Syria, with the largest usable area of arable land upon which hundreds of thousands could begin life anew, will accept no more. 

 “The desire to return to their own homes, constantly reiterated and always close to the emotional surface, can easily and artificially be stimulated at any time by those wishing to lead them or to divert their thoughts from acceptance of resettlement.”

Source: Regional Development for Regional Peace: A New Policy and Program to Counter the Soviet Menace in the Middle East, Washington, DC: Public Affairs Institute, 1957