Speech to the General Assembly on the International Refugee Organization⁶

15 December 1946 [Lake Success, NY]

Mrs. Roosevelt (United States of America): I think perhaps that those who are interested in this Organization may have been a little startled, as I was, this morning to read in one of our big papers an article which seemed to take it for granted that we had already set up the International Refugee Organization, and I know that we are going to do so, but if you read that, you must have been as startled as I was.⁷ The point of the story, however, was that it mentioned the fact that over a million people would feel much relieved when this Organization was set up, and I want to remind you all that we are dealing, in the work which we are now going to consider, with more than a million people. Some of them will be repatriated; some of them are looking forward to having their rights as human beings assured, and if they, for valid reasons, wish to be resettled, they look to resettlement. They still seek a haven, at home or abroad, a home where they may work in peace and lead useful lives, surrounded by the members of their families. They have suffered cruelly at the hands of the aggressors. As United Nations Members, we owe them a place to live. They shared our fight; they are still seeking their share in victory—a modest share, a place to live under conditions acceptable to them.

We have before us the draft constitution for the establishment of the International Refugee Organization with the provisional budget for the first year of operation and the draft interim arrangement for the establishment of a preparatory commission of the International Refugee Organization. It is now for the Assembly to decide whether these proposals are in order and suitable for presentation to Governments for their signatures.

We are not now voting as representatives of our respective Governments on the question of joining the International Refugee Organization nor of adopting its budget—but rather, as Members of the General Assembly, we are passing expert judgement upon a plan to be submitted to Governments. The Governments will themselves decide at the proper time whether they will participate in the plan by joining the International Refugee Organization.⁸

This plan has been drafted by the Economic and Social Council and its Sub-Committees at the request of the General Assembly which met in London last February. The draft constitution is the product of the continuous labour since that meeting. It is not a casual document. Every word and paragraph has been hammered out through painstaking effort and discussion. No one Government or group of Governments has written the text. All Governments have contributed to it. Opposing concepts have been tested in the democratic process of reaching decisions.

This document was referred to the Governments for comment before the third session of the Economic and Social Council. Their comments are reflected in the final text before us. Fifty-four Governments have participated in its development. Therefore this is a document which merits the approval of the General Assembly. Probably no Government is completely satisfied with it, and that is natural and understandable, but it is a document for which no apologies need be made. It constitutes a rule and a guide for the International Refugee Organization on the basis of which its operations may begin.

I have made clear, I hope, the humanitarian task that we are considering, but that is not the whole story. Each Member Government of the United Nations has a direct, selfish interest in the early disposal of this problem. As long as a million persons remain with refugee status, they delay the restoration of peace and order in the world. They contribute to the impairment of good relations between friendly Governments. They represent, in themselves, political, economic and national conflicts which are symbolic of the work that lies before nations if peace is to be restored. While they remain a solid mass in assembly centres, they deteriorate individually, and collectively they present a sore on the body of mankind which it is not safe for us to ignore.

This situation cannot be ignored. It calls for heroic treatment. It cannot be resolved by indifference or by leaving it to the resources of a few Governments charged by accident of war with immediate responsibility. There is no Government or people so far removed from the source of infection as to feel any sense of security from its effects. Some may argue that they are geographically far removed, or that in their countries there are priorities of need. Many Governments face serious problems of rebuilding and reconstruction and of new development to bring about a better standard of living in their home populations.

All these things are so, but every Government requires peace and order and the restoration of confidence in the world. Peace, order and confidence contribute to the rebirth of economic activity. The labour of a million persons is an asset which cannot be permitted to go to waste. Every day during which it is not utilized adds to the waste.

The Governments of countries of origin clamour for the repatriation of their nationals, as many of them as possible, because they need their work. And the world needs the work of all these people, and those, who for valid reasons decide they cannot go home, must be settled somewhere so that the world may profit by their work as well as by the work of those who can go home.

The budget for this Organization has been estimated at one hundred and sixty million United States dollars. It represents the cost of staff to do the job, of food and supplies for the persons involved, of transport to their homes from their places of displacement, of emigration to friends and relatives overseas and of resettlement for those who have to be colonized in the new areas.

I do not minimize the cost or the sacrifice it represents, but spread among all the nations this is not a large sum in view of the size and importance of the problem. Each nation has been allocated its proportionate share. In comparison with UNRRA budgets and appropriations, the total is not so staggering.⁹ The task is one of the unfinished tasks of the war. The results to be gained far outweigh the financial cost.

After the action of the Assembly there will be a period of months during which government administrations will consult their Parliaments and appropriating bodies as to their participation in the IRO. During this period, a preparatory commission consisting of those Governments which initially sign the constitution of the International Refugee Organization will be required.

The resolution before us contains a proposal to the Governments for the setting up of this preparatory commission. Its function will be to consult with Governments, control authorities, UNRRA, and other international bodies with respect to the ways and means by which there can be an orderly transfer of functions and responsibilities for this problem to the IRO.

This preparatory work can be done in the intervening months in full awareness of the resources that will be made available to the IRO by the decisions of Governments to participate in its work. Naturally, the preparatory commission will not assume operating functions until it becomes very clear that the International Refugee Organization is to come into being.

My Government has always supported the concept of the International Refugee Organization. It supports the proposal now. My Government holds strongly to the view that this problem should be handled by international action. We believe that nothing short of international action can deal effectively with the problem. We subscribe to the principles embodied in the constitution before us, and join in the invitation to all Governments to give immediate and serious consideration to this proposal. In the case of my own Government, full powers have been issued to the Chairman of the delegation to sign the constitution of the International Refugee Organization. This will be done immediately and the Constitution will then be submitted to the Congress for its approval.

In making the position of my Government clear as to its intentions with respect to the International Refugee Organization, I wish to say again that our votes on this constitution now have no connexion with the question of whether our respective Governments will join the Organization later. A vote of "yes" now does not represent a commitment by a Government to join the IRO later. As Members of the General Assembly, we are passing judgment on a draft proposal to be submitted to Governments. That judgment we confidently believe will be that this proposal is in order and suitable for presentation to Governments.

I urge all nations here represented to sign and support the constitution in their own interests and in the interest of over a million people who have suffered long enough.

TSptr UNORGA, MWelC

December 16, the General Assembly adopted the resolution authorizing the creation of the International Refugee Organization (IRO), in the process approving a draft constitution and appointing a preparatory commission to guide the organization's work. The draft constitution established two benchmarks which had to be met before a permanent IRO could commence work: fifteen member nations first had to approve the IRO constitution and, second, provide at least 75 percent of the organization's $160,860,500 operating budget.¹⁰ The United States led the campaign to create the organization and committed, pending congressional approval, contributions totaling 45.75 percent of the IRO budget.¹¹

Having led the fight to adopt the IRO constitution, ER next turned to the task of persuading a reluctant Congress to approve US participation and to appropriate funds necessary for the United States to meet its obligations to both the IRO and the International Children's Emergency Fund. ER knew from her earlier efforts to secure funding for UNRRA that this would not be a simple task. As the following two letters indicate, ER turned to longtime colleagues for help with particular constituencies.