EUROPEAN REFUGEES

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 79, 1 October 1945, Page 8

EUROPEAN REFUGEES

AUSTRALIA THEIR HOME

O.C. • SYDNEY, September 11. Few refugees who came to Australia from enemy countries will go back, stated Dr. M. Joseph, general secretary jri Sydney of the Association of Refugees. "Not one of the 1156 members of the association, or members of their families, totalling about 3000, wants to return to Europe," Dr. Joseph said. "I have heard of only two refugees in Sydney who intend to go back.

SYDNEY, September 11

"Most members of the association with relatives still in Europe will try to get landing permits to bring the relatives to Australia," added Dr. Joseph. "If all landing permits sought for refugees' relatives were granted, they probably would not be more than 2000 to 3000. Our' members do not want to return to Europe because they are now naturalised British subjects, and recognise that they owe a debt to Australia." Dr. Joseph said a refugee couple from Germany wanted to bring to Sydney and adopt a 13-year.-old niece who had been in the notorious Belsen concentration camp. After her release from Belsen, the girl had written that her mother and father had been killed in the camp. . . An Immigration Department official said that hundreds of refugees, mostly Ifrom Germany, Austria, and Hungary, had approached the Department for landing permits in the past few weeks. The refugees had said they wanted the permits for members of their families from whom they had been separated by the war, the official said. One refugee wanted permits to land six members of his family in Australia. Before a relative could be granted a landing permit, he would have to supply a photo, health certificate, and certificate of character, stating that he had no criminal record. If granted permits, refugees' relatives would have, to wait until prisoners of war and other priority passengers had been transported, the official added. Mr. L. Sellars, manager of Thomas Cook and.Son, said that since the end of the war he had had only about six applications for passages from refugees wanting to return to Europe.! All six refugees had stated in their applications that they wanted to go to Europe only to find members of their families and complete business matters. They had said they would return to Australia, Mr. Sellars added. In a recent issue of the Sydney "Jewish News," Mr. A. Masek, president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, stated that the Minister for Immigration, Mr. A. Calwell, had promised to consider applications by Jewish people in Australia for admission of certain classes of relatives. Application forms were now being printed, and would soon be sent to each State, Mr. Masek stated. He pointed out that if Mr. Calwell issued permits to any relative he would accept no responsibility for providing shipping facilities..