REFUGEES FROM HUNGARY

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28129, 19 November 1956, Page 13

REFUGEES FROM HUNGARY

CHURCH PEOPLE OFFER HOMES NATIONAL COUNCIL TO CONSIDER APPEAL Many families in New Zealand — some of whom immigrated since World War II themselves—have offered to accommodate some of the 500 Hungarian refugees whom the New Zealand Government has accepted. The executive of the National Council of Churches, meeting in Christchurch tomorrow, will consider, these offers, and what action they will take to assist the settlement of the refugees. “The churches will be most active in assisting in every possible way,” said the general secretary of the council (the Rev. Alan Brash), last evening. “We have already had a number oi offers and it is probable that the council will appeal to the church people of New Zealand for more offers of sponsorship, provided that this method will be of help to the Government,” he said. The National Council of Churches, said Mr Brash, represented 75 pe: cent, of the church people of New Zealand. The council knew of at least six families who had already offered to sponsor Hungarian refugees, although no appeal had yet been made, and many others were expected to come forward after the council announced its policy. The Department of Labour, which is the Dominion’s Government immigration agency, is also accepting the names of families willing to sponsor refugees and five Christchurch families have already registered their names there.