INTERNATIONAL AID TO GREEK REFUGEES

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28514, 18 February 1958, Page 15

INTERNATIONAL AID TO GREEK REFUGEES

In Katerini, in the heart of Greece’s most fertile agricultural region about 60 miles from Salonica, 62 families of Greek ethnic refugees have been given aid through international action to withstand the winter, while their seasonal work is suspended. The roads have been treacherous with heavy rains, and the peasants shut themselves in their huts, such as the one in this picture, which they have built with their savings. In such conditions, continuous streams of immigrants from Asia Minor have been assimilated. About 90 per cent, are declared

to be of "undetermined nationality” and come under the mandate of the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. In most cases they are farmers so it has been natural for them to go north to Katerini where, in summer they manage to. do well. However, they have built mud houses instead of saving capital to carry them through the winter.

The plight of these refugees became even more acute in the final days of October when rising flood waters threatened to wash away their homes. The Athens branch of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was warned of the situation and a representative visited the area and recommended that 5000 dollars should be allocated. This was quickly approved, and five voluntary

organisations also added their support. The World Council of Churches promised to give blankets and clothing to all refugees in the Katerini area, plus one gallon of corn oil for each family. The Refugee Service committee) offered clothing. The Co-operative for American Remittance to Everywhere agreed to provide food parcels families and the British and Canadian Save the Children Fund gave cocoa, sugar, soups and vitamins. At the same time, local Greek health centres assigned a doctor to give all the refugees a medical examination. Within nine days, every one of the families, representing 214 per-

sons, had received help worth in all about 12,000 dollars. “But it would take another 2000 dollars from the High Commissioner’s’ office to pull the Katerini refugees through until spring,” reports the High Commissioner’s representative in New Zealand. “We know that this small amount would engender about another 8000 dollars worth of additional aid from the voluntary agencies. Part of this would permit the establishment of a children’s feeding centre and day nursery,” he says. Many refugees will be settled on the land, as have been 200 other refugees in the last two years. In most cases, aid is given partly through a grant, but mostly through a loan to be repaid over a 30-year period. Although the fear of floods remains, most of the refugees now feel secure and confident.