Para. Number
Chapter I — INTRODUCTION - 1— 2
Chapter II — CONSTITUTIONAL STATUS - 3— 6
Chapter III — MIGRATION FROM EUROPIE DURING 1953 - 7—14
Chapter IV — THE OPERATIONS OP THE COMMITTEE - 15—39
The Target for 1953 - 15—16
Promotional Work - 17—19
Migration Services - 20—21
Land Settlement - 25—30
Special Refugee Programmes - 31—34
Transport - 35—37
Movements effected - 38—39
Chapter V — CO-OPERATION WITH OTHER INTERNATIONAL BODIES GOVERNMENTAL AND NON-GOVERNMENTAL - 40—43
Chapter VI — BUDGET, FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION - 44—47
Chapter VII — CONCLUSION - 48—54
ANNEXES
Annex I — FINAL REPORT OF NUMBERS OF MIGRANTS MOVED 1 JANUARY, 1953—31 DECEMBER, 1953 (WITH CUMULATIVE TOTAL EROM 1 FEBRUARY, 1952).
Annex II — MEMBER GOVERNMENTS OF THE INTER-GOVERNMENTAL COMMITTEE EOR EUROPEAN MIGRATION AS AT 31 DECEMBER, 1953.
Annex III — LIST OP LIAISON MISSIONS AND OFFICES OF THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL COMMITTEE FOR EUROPEAN MIGRATION AS AT 31 DECEMBER, 1953.
1. This is the record of a trial period ; the second which the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration has undergone. The year 1953 was a trial period in two respects; first because Member Governments, while considering à Constitution to establish the Committee as a non-permanent agency, wished to have further evidence that such ¡an intergovernmental body could make an effective contribution to the problems of population pressure in Europe and the development of underpopulated countries overseas ; and, secondly, because the Committee had to prove its worth in a climate of receding migration, in a period producing many factors to hamper the development of organised migration, which needs the careful fusing of interests of the emigration country, the immigration country and the migrants themselves.
2. By the end of the year a Constitution, considered and re-drafted at two Sessions of the Intergovernmental Committee, had been recommended for early ratification. On the operational plane, 'after six months of difficulty and unrewarded effort which resulted in the movement of 31,297 migrants only, the Committee was able to move almost double this number during the next six months. In so doing, the Committee successfully developed schemes which were designed to be the foundation for movements of greater volume in succeeding years. The scheme for re-uniting dependents from Italy with their heads of families in Argentina is a good example. The first movements of this operation did not begin until July, 1953 but by December of that year they had reached 3,000 per month. Schemes of this nature combined with, inter alia, the larger immigration quotas which Australia has announced and the prospects of migration beginning under the terms of the US Refugee Relief Aiet, give grounds for hoping that the period of declining migration is over and that efforts may now be concentrated on raising the volume of movements to the level demanded by Europe's population pressure.
3. On 17 October, 1952, the Governments represented kit the Fourth Session of the Intergovernmental Committee adopted a Resolution which expressed their conviction that the reasons justifying the establishment of the Committee at Brussels remained unaltered and their satisfaction that the work of the Committee had justified the confidence placed in it. It was therefore resolved that the activities of the Committee should be continued during 1953 under the provisions of the Brussels Resolution of 5 December, 1951, that plans for the future should be examined during the year and that the Committee should henceforth be known as the " Intergovernmental Committee for Euro-; pean Migration ". A further Resolution adopted on the same day requested the Director to subr mit to Member Governments a. preliminary Draft Constitution in time to enable it to be discussed at the first Session of 1953.
4. A preliminary draft was duly examined in plenary and sub-committee meetings during the Fifth Session in April and ąń . amended text re-examined during the Sixth Session in October. Written comments were available at the October meeting from Member Governments and other international organizations represented by official Observers. After further consideration, chiefly in a Sub-Committee, over which Congressman Chauncey W. Reed of the United States Delegation presided, a Resolution was adopted by the Intergovernmental Committee on 19 October, 1953 recommending that Member 'Governments should accept the agreed draft as soon as possible. By other Resolutions it was decided to continue the Committee's activities during 1954 until the coming into force of the Constitution, which should take place at the first Intergovernmental Committee meeting after at least two-thirds of its members, land a sufficient number whose contributions represented at least 75 % of the administrative part of the budget, had accepted it.
5. The principal decision to be taken bad concerned the terms of reference of. the Committee. It was finally decided that, in addition to making arrangements for the transport of migrants who could not otherwise be moved, the Committee should have authority " to promote the increase of the volume of migration from Europe by providing, at the request of and in agreement with the Governments concerned, services in the processing, reception, first placement and settlement of migrants which other international organizations are not in a position to supply, and such other assistance to this purpose as is in accord with the aims of the Committee ".
6. In the course of the meetmg at which the Constitution was adopted, the Director made a formal statement regarding certain matters which had arisen during the discussions. He gave lan assurance that he shared the desire of other international agencies to avoid overlapping oř activities in the field of migrationNote : he confirmed, with regard to shipping policy, that the principle of free and fair competition had been followed and would continue to he followed to the greatest extent possible, and he assured the Committee that he would continue to be guided, ¡as in the past, by the general humanitarian principles which had found their place in international conventions regarding migration.
7. In his report to the Fifth Session of the Intergovernmental Committee, in April, 1953, the Director considered it desirable to lay stress on the fundamental political and economic factors which have decisive influence on the volume of European migration, and to point out that the Committee with its relatively limited mandate could only work within the ambience created by these factors. While the influence of the Committee in raising the level of European migration should steadily increase, it must not be forgotten that the volume of its movements during its early formative period was bound to be profoundly affected by general migration trends. It would therefore be useful to. review, these trends before examining the Committee's own contribution to European migration in 1953.
8. The year 1952 was acknowledged to be a year of diminishing migration for various reasons which included the closure of the International Refugees Organization, the virtual completion of movements under the US Displaced Persons Act and the absence of any further comparable legislation, and the restrictions on immigration which various countries had to apply owing to economic recession or the need of a period of consolidation to allow the satisfactory absorption of the large number of migrants received during the preceding years. Unfortunately, 1953 began without any reversal of the downward trend. The Australian immigration quota for the fiscal year 1 July, 1952 — 30 June , 1953 was only 80,000 ; of this number one-half were to be British. Australia's desire to obtain migrants who could begin quickly to make a valuable contribution to its economy led it to seek as many skilled workers as possible. Such selective criteria made even the reduced quotas not easy to complete. New US immigration legislation had not yet appeaiv ed — although there .were hopes that it wouldr.be enacted during 1953. Immigration to Argentina' continued to decline : some 55,000 persons had emigrated from Italy to Argentina in 1951 but that country received only 33,300 Italians in 1952 and only 4,808 in the first three months of; 1953. Argentina had' not yet decided to join the Migration Committee and to play its very considerable role in developing migration from Europe. Even Canada, whose policy it is to increase its population, and which is sometimes less susceptible to economic trends that make other countries reduce their immigration, received 15 % fewer persons in 1952 than in-1951. Thus, the outlook for the Committee in its second year of trial was not bright.
9. In the report to the Fifth Session in April a cautiously optimistic view was taken of the prospects for the remainder of the year, although it was recognised that they were still difficult to -assess. It was felt that the outlook was improving both for migration as a whole and for the Committee: this moderate optimism was based largely on improving economic conditions in Australia, adherence of Argentina to the Committee, with . the prospect that that event opened of increasing movements from Italy, and the potentialities of new US legislation. It was thought therefore, that a target of -between 100,000 and 120,000 movements could be achieved. As the year developed it became clear that this optimism, although not misplaced, was certainly premature.
10. Migration movements under the auspices of the Committee during the first half of 1953 were disappointingly low. Only 11,115 persons left Italy for overseas destinations during the first quarter and 31,297 in the first six months. That this situation was general in the migration field can be shown by the Italian figures ; only 50,(590 persons left Italy for overseas destinations during the first six months ol' 1953 compared with 79,322 during the same period of 1952. Further evidence that the declining trend continued far into 1953 is provided by the following figures of total immigration, regardless of origin, into some of the larger overseas immigration countries :
| Total ImmigrationNote | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | ||
| U.S.A. | 238,287 | 219,222 | 81,115 | (6 months) |
| Canada | 194,391 | 104,498 | 126,098 | (9 months - 8 % less than in the samo poriodof 1962) |
| Australia | 132,542 | 127,824 | 53,494 | (9 months) |
| Argentina | 108,818 | 81,137 | 30,800 | (7 months) |
11. However, as the year progressed, there were definite signs that the tide might shortly turn, perhaps even before the end of 1953. The announcement of an increased Australian quota for the fiscal year 1 July, 1953 — 30 June, 1954 was one of these signs. Another was the enactment of the US Refugee Relief Act, which authorised the admittance of 209,000 refugees of various categories into the United States, of which some 200,000 were expected to come from Europe. The Act contained an enabling clause which made possible the participation of the Migration Committee in giving eligible persons transport and financial help when necessary and assisting the administration of the scheme in emigration countries as required.
12. For various reasons, shipping space on the North Atlantic, was short during the spring and summer, and this threatened ; the .achievement of Canada's immigration targets for the year. The Committee was thus given an opportunity to put its shipping and technical services at the disposal of the Canadian Government and to help ensure that Canadian immigration from Europe · at least maintained the level of the previous year.
13. The familly-reunion schemes developed by the Committee were expanding steadily and becoming better known amongst the immigrants and families who could benefit from them. · A family-reunion scheme with considerable possibilities began to be worked out as between Italy and Argentina:. Further, the technical and promotional services which the Committee was able to bring to the assistance of Member Governments, whether to improve pre-selection and processing, accelerate placement or to improve the quality of available migrants by various training schemes, began to win confidence and to have an increasing effect on the volume of movements.
14. The remainder of this report is largely the story of how these more favourable circumstances, some of which the Committee had helped to create, enabled the volume of its movements to lbe increased during the third and fourth quarters of 1953.
15. Against the hackground just described, the Committee had to attempt to reach a target of 120,000 migration movements during the year. This target, which had been set after detailed discussion at he Fourth Session of the Intergovernmental Committee, was acknowledged to be extremely modest in relation to the scale of Europe's population problems. Newer-theless, its achievement would be a difficult task in view of the general trends of European migration.
16. The Committee had certain assets to bring to bear on his task. First, there was its experience in the complex problems of transporting migrants by land, sea and air : secondly, its experience in the processes of migrant selection and placement and the many services needed to ensure successful migration : thirdly, the authority given by Resolution No. 36 of the Intergovernmental Committee to help in improving and developing the technical services of migration which were likely to increase the volume of movements, and to encourage and assist the preparation of land settlement plans by interested Governments : finally, and most important of all, the growing confidence of Member Governments, expressed practically and in various Resolutions, which enabled the Committee to concentrate its efforts on developing migration in harmony with overall policies of Member Governments and to put its services fully at their disposal to help secure the maximum results from the migration schemes which were approved.
17. The familly-rcunion schemes which made possible the movement of nearly 20,000 persons during 1953, are an excellent example of the fruitful collaboration which this growing confidence made possible. It was clearly in the interests of emigration and immigration Governments; both demographically and socially, that the families whom migrants had left behind in Europe should be assisted to join their breadwinners as soon as the latter were ready to receive them. The breadwinner had normally gone ahead in order to f hid a job and a home and to settle down in the immigration country before calling his family forward. However, the task of establishing a home, remitting funds to maintain the family, and at the same time saving enough money to bring the family to the immigration country, was frequently more than the immigrant could accomplish within a reasonable time. Inevitably this resulted in broken families, social burdens on the emigration country and a large volume of " returnees "-Immigration coiintries lost the new manpower just when it should have become assimilated and increasingly productive, and the demographic strengthening which the women and children would have provided never materialised.
18. The Committee therefore began to develop subsidized migration schemes to reunite these families, and its staff both in Europe and the immigration countries collaborated fully with the Government services concerned in order to ensure that the schemes proceeded as quickly and efficiently as possible. Some family-reunion schemes, notably those to Brazil and Venezuela, were begun in 1952 whilst others, in particular the scheme to Argentina, did not become operative until late in 1953. Thus, while only 3,981 dependents were moved during 1952, some 19,915 were moved in 1953. Even so, these schemes have by no means reached their full rhythm of moyement.
19. Promotional work of similar nature went on throughout the year. Its aim was to bring together emigration and immigration Governments in mutually valuable migration schemes and to support these schemes with the technical migration services the Committee possessed or could develop. At the same time, a public relations programme was conducted to win the interest and support of an ever-widening public for international action to solve the problems of population and migration.
20. The Director liad been authorised by the Intergovernmental Committee at its last Session in 1952, to help Governments to improve and develop the technical machinery of migration in order to take full advantage of existing and potential opportunities. This authority was used in 1953 at the request of Governments, and in close co-operation with their national services, to achieve three general purposes to improve the qualifications of persons available for asisted migration ; to improve methods of pre-selection and selection ; and to develop and improve arrangements for the reception of immigrants and their placement in satisfactory employment.
21. To improve the qualifications of migrants, the Committee sponsored language and vocational training programmes and provided the migrants with concise information on immigration countries when such information was not already available. An experimental vocational training project was carried out in Italy, as a result of which over 200 workers trained in building trades have already been moved to Brazil ; some others remain to be moved and the families of these workers will join them in Brazil as soon as the workers are ready to receive them. Plans for similar projects in the Netherlands and Greece were prepared during the year. These programmes, in addition to strengthening the migrant for his new life overseas, mado another contribution to increasing the rate of migration. It has already been noted that some immigration countries had been obliged by reason of their internal economic development to select a substantial proportion of skilled workers among the quotas they were to receive. On the other hand, European countries of excess population were anxious to effect the emigration of well-balanced groups containing skilled and unskilled workers. Vocational training programmes for the semi-skilled provided one method 'by which these positions could be reconciled.
22. The value, and often the necessity, of a migrant's having at least a working knowledge of the language of the country to which he was emigrating became apparent. Language instruction was therefore given to Greek migrants preselected for Australia and Brazil and facilities for continuing language training were provided on many vessels carrying migrants under the auspices of the Committee. Without such programmes, the Committee would not have succeeded in making its movements from Greece over eight times greater in 1953 than in 1952.
23. Considerable attention was devoted, on the request of Governments and in collaboration with their services and other international bodies, to improving machinery for the basic tasks of selecting migrants and placing them in employment on disembarkation. In Greece and Trieste, the Committee was directly responsible for processing migrants, including their preselection medical examination, whilst in Germany and Austria the Committee 's liaison staff assisted local authorities and selection missions in an advisory capacity, from time to time taking an active part in processing where this was. useful. In Italy, technical aid was given to develop the emigration machinery ; in co-operation with the International JJabour Office three experts were provided to improve pre-seleetion services. Assistance was also given to immigration selection missions : for example, medical officers and an expert in trade selection were assigned to assist them upon request.
24. Reception and placement services overseas were not neglected. Assistance was continued to the Placement Board in Brazil which sought opportunities for new immigrants and placed them in employment after arrival. An agreement was signed with the Government of Argentina regarding the establishment of a training farm for immigrants which would also function as a placement centre from which immigrants would be placed on settlement lands or in agricultural employment. Plans for a similar reception-training farm in Chile were being developed at the end of the year.
25. The improvement of the technical services of migration helped to ensure that full advantage was taken of the migration schemes continued from 1952 as well as the new ones which were brought forward as the year progressed. However, it was very necessary to develop new migration opportunities and it was clear that in this respect land settlement could be of great importance. Not only would it facilitate the migration of agricultural workers but it would also provide openings for the urban tradesmen needed to support modern- agricultural communities.
26. At its last Session in 1952, the Intergovernmental Committee had authorised the Director to examine with Governments interested, and with other international agencies and credit institutions, what might be done to increase the volume of migration by the development of land settlement schemes for immigrants. Discussions with Governments and other organizations were initiated, but it was clear that much preparatory work, in which the Committee could play an important part, was necessary before land settlement could make the contribution to relieving Europe's population pressure of which it seemed capable.
27. An important step in this direction was taken at a. meeting of land settlement ex-perls arranged by the Committee in Florence in September ; a meeting of this nature having been proposed at the Fifth Session of the Intergovernmental Committee to facilitate an exchange of view on land settlement problems. The recommendations put forward by these experts regarding action necessary for expanding land settlement were grouped around four main points : the necessity of putting at the disposal of the planners all the available information regarding the factors involved in promoting land settlement, the necessity of planning large-scale projects comprehensively at the regional or national level ; the importance of interested governments adopting planned land settlement policies and, finally, the problems of finance. A synthesis of the working documents of the Florence meeting, incorporating the general principles recommended by the experts, will be published in due course.
28. Late in 3953, the Government of Paraguay proposed an ambitious and broadly-conceived scheme whereby it would provide up to one million hectares of land in the Alto Parana region for settlement by immigrants. A conference was held at the Committee's Headquarters in Geneva attended by representatives of the Governments of Italy, the .Netherlands, Germany, Greece and Paraguay at which an agreement to share the costs of an expert mission to investigate the Paraguayan project was initialled, subject to ratification.
29. Progress was made with other initiatives, and plans were elaborated, with the Committee's assistance, for projects in Chile and Brazil. The Brazilian plan incorporated a number of separate projects envisaging the settlement of up to 5,000 immigrant families'; two of these projects, involving sonie 700 families were expected to begin early in 1954. During 1953 the Committee had been able to assist the movement of 859 immigrants to-take part in land settlement in Brazil, Costa Rica and Chile ; in some of these projects the Committee had been able to participate during the planning stages.
30, A report on the meeting of experts in Florence and of progress regarding land settlement was submitted in October to the Sixth Session of the Intergovernmental Committee, which noted the report with satisfaction, and requested the Director to intensify his efforts " to encourage the preparation of settlement plans of Member Governments wishing to increase the numbers of migrants to be received, to participate in the drafting of such plans and to further the completion of such plans as the Governments concerned may be prepared to adopt ".
31. It was made clear in the Brussels Resolution that the Committee should concern itself with refugees resettlement. Efforts have been made to promote the resettlement of refugees by laying stress not on their' refugee status but on their qualifications for particular migration schemes. To support this approach Governments have been asked to establish special immigration quotas for refugees as a humtìinitarian measure and a contribution to the solution of Europe's problems. In addition to its general efforts on behalf of refugees, the Committee has carried out subsidiary tasks in connection with the resettlement of refugees from Trieste and of European refugees from the Near East and the Par East. In all these efforts, the Committee worked in close co-operation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United States Escapee Programme and the voluntary agencies interested in migration. Much credit is due to these bodies that some 30,000 refugees were resettled by the Committee in 1953, some 16,000 of them being within the mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
32. The Committee maintained its office in Hong Kong, jointly with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and through that office attempted to resettle European refugees from China, of whom it was estimated there were approximately 18,000 on 1 July 1953, 12,000 being potential migrants. These joint efforts, supported by sympathetic Governments and voluntary agencies, met with considerable success in 1953, 3,259 persons being resettled as compared with only 969 in 1952. This success raised its own problems, as by October it was clear that the funds received in trust from ho Liquidator of I.R.O. for this purpose would be committed before the end of the year, a small amount being set aside for movements from the Middle East, which would not be large. Member Governments considered this problem during the Sixth Session of the Intergovernmental Committee in Venice in October and decided to authorise the Director to appeal urgently to all Governments of good-will for this programme and in the meantime to draw upon, to the extent necessary, the amount of $ 900,000 remaining from funds previously advanced by I.R.O. for the transport of certain groups of refugees.
33. The problem of the refugees in Trieste had given Governments particular concern, and the wish had been expressed at various Intergovernmental Committee meetings that the ut most should be done to reduce it. The Committee's efforts were greatly assisted by a grant, in trust, of the equivalent of $ 1,000,000 in Italian lire made at the initiative of the United States, British and French 'Governments. This Fund permitted arrangements to be made for the resettlement of. the difficult cases requiring permanent institutional care or other forms of special attention. With the'help of the Fund, and as a result of the generous responses of various Governments to an appeal made by the Director at the time of the political xxnrest in Trieste, some 1,367 persons were resettled from the Free Territory during the year, this figure being almost double that of 1952.
34. The Committee continued its co-operation with the United States Escapee Programme under the terms of the basic agreement concluded in 1952 and subsequent amendments. At the end of the year, this agreement was extended for a further nine months until September, 1954. In this operation, eligible refugees with resettlement opportunities were transported by the Committee, the cost being in normal circumstances partly subsidised by the Committee and partly reimbursed ' by the United States agency which, however, reimbursed the costs in full for certain cases ; 5,238 refugees were resettled under these arrangements in 1953.
35. In support of the Committee's efforts to promote and develop migration, mention should be made of its services for arranging the transport, of migrants for whom opportunities existed but who could not otherwise be moved. Air transport played a considerable role in movements from Europe to North America and from the Far East, but sea transport, naturally, assumed the greater importance. In arranging sea transport the Committee had to consider the requirements of particular migration programmes, the availability of established transport on various routes, conditions relating to safety and health on the ships available, the preference which, under the terms of the Brussels Resolution, had to be given to commercial carriers whenever possible, and the desirability of keeping in operation vessels employed in the migration service. Transport programmes liad lo bo planned well in advance of movement, and at the same time flexibility had to be of maintained in order to avoid financial loss when actual movements were found to be less than anticipated.
36. These various difficulties were particularly acute in connection with the route from North European ports to Australia. However, with the co-operation of shipping companies, the Committee was able to arrange regular supplementary sailings, which began in September 1953 and will extend throughout 1951. The lack of tonnage i n the North Atlantic during the summer months of 1953 has already been referred to. At the request of the Governments concerned the Committee arranged more than twenty supplementary sailings from North European ports to Canada. Following this experience various meetings were held with the North Atlantic Shipping Conference i n order that the Committee's services could be planned on a more stable basis for 1954. Problems concerning operations from the Mediterranean to South America were resolved in close co-operation with representatives of the shipping industries concerned with this route.
37. Thus, the Committee was able to provide transport on routes where additional capac i ty was required and to contribute to the adequate employment of regular tonnage on routes of particular interest for the promotion of migration from Europe. In co-operation with the shipping industry and with the support of interested Governments, economic price-scales were established and further improvements made to the standards of vessels carrying migrants.
38. The foregoing paragraphs have set out the main lines of the Committee 's action to promote and develop migration i n order to reach the target set for 1953. To have achieved that target i t would have been necessary to maintain an average of some 30,000 movements per quarter, movements i n the two summer quarters being somewhat higher than the average, and movements in the two winter quarters somewhat lower. In the event, for overriding reasons which have already heen referred to and which affected the whole of migration from Europe, only 31,297 persons were moved during tho first six months. This made the achievement of the target practically impossible. Nevertheless, movements in the third quarter (29,504) and in the fourth quarter (26,700) were more satisfactory, falling only some 3,800 below the half-yearly average required to'achieve the target.
39. The total movement for the year was, therefore, 87,501, and the breakdown of this number by emigration countries and by immigration countries will be found in Annex I.
40. Throughout the year excellent relations were maintained with other international bodies working in the migration field, whether governmental or non-governmental. As already noted, the Committee and the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner worked closely together to effect resettlement of refugees from Europe and European refugees from the Near East and the Far East. Various co-operative projects were carried out with the International Labour Office concerning the improvement of migration techniques, whilst the Pood and Agriculture Organization has given valuable assistance in connection with land settlement development, and its representative played an important role in the meeting of experts at Florence. The Committee also took part in the meetings of the Technical Working Group on Migration, a Sub-Committee of the U.N. Administrative Committee on Co-ordination, and participated with W.II.O. and I.L.O. in an Expert Conference to consider the Standardisation of Medical Selection Criteria. Contacts with regional organizations such as O.E.E.C. and the Council of Europe were close and regular.
41. During consideration oí the draft Constitution at the Sixth Session of the Intergovernmental Committee, representatives of various international organizations, including the representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, stressed the importance of close working relations between the Migration Committee and United Nations and its Specialised Agencies in order to avoid duplication of activities and consequent unnecessary expense. On hehalf of the Member Governments the Director gave an assurance that he shared the desire of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to avoid duplication and overlapping of activities in the field of migration and that, in the study of major projects, appropriate regard would be given to the availability of services which other international organizations might be in a, position to supply. He confirmed that he was keenly interested in continuing present arrangements for consultation with other international organizations, governmental or non-governmental, and that it would be his policy to continue to co-operate with all agencies which could help in solving problems regarding migration and refugees, including those whose statutes did not provide specifically for action in these fields.
42.Note The joint programmes carried out with the twelve voluntary agencies with whom the Committee has agreements were expanded during the year. With the aid of Committee grants, these agencies had established Revolving Funds in 19б2 from which loans were given to indi-viduaľ "migrants to cover their passage costs and incidental expenses. These programmes have proved very effective and also economical to the Committee owing to the ability of the voluntary agencies to contribute from their own resources to the Revolving Funds from which loans were granted.
43. The Committee also helped these voluntary agencies to develop their representation and counterpart groups in overseas countries through which they assisted family reunions and sought sponsorships and placement opportunities for individual migrants. As a result some 20,000 persons were enabled to migrate by these arrangements in 1953.
44. The first Budget and Plan of Expenditure for 1953 approved by Member Governments had been drawn up on the assumption that the Committee would be able to effect the migration of 120,000 persons. In due course it became clear-that this target could not be rea,-ched. The Budget was therefore revised in the belief that the total number of persons moved would be approximately 82,400, and a Plan of Expenditure on this basis was approved by the Intergovernmental Committee at its Sixth Session in October. This Plan of Expenditure provided for expenditures of $ 25,408,814 for operations and $ 2,136,188 for administration.
45. An improved rate of migration during the later months of the year, however, resulted in total movements being some 5,100 above the estimate upon which the revised Plan of Expenditure was prepared. Actual expenditures therefore exceeded the Plan of Expenditure approved in Venice but there were, nevertheless, substantial resources, estimated to « be. some $ 6,000,000, remaining to be carried forward into 1954. It should be pointed out, however, that this excess of resources over expenditures was due entirely to movements being lower than original estimates. However, if the volume of movements is to be raised to a level approaching that demanded by the realities of the population problem, this situation is unlikely to recur ; the problem for the immediate future will be to find resources to cover the expenditures necessary. It should be noted in this connection that no substantial Voluntary Contribution to the Operating Fund was received in 1953, apart from that of the U.S. Government.
46. Every effort was made to keep administrative costs at an economical level although it Was not possible, owing to certain fixed costs, to make reductions in administrative expenditure commensurate with the difference between estimates and actual movements. 'Nevertheless, significant savings, which will probably be found to exceed Ş 100,000, were made in the revised plan of administrative expenditure approved at Venice. Note should be made here of the difficulties in which the Committee was placed by the slowness in receiving administrative contributions ; had it not been for savings carried forward from 1952, the Committee would not have been able to meet its administrative commitments.
47. The currency problems of an organization such as the Committee are inevitably complicated ; income is received in twelve different currencies, and bank accounts have to be-maintained in seventeen. However, with the understanding co-operation of Member Governments all problems were solved except one, that concerning Argentine pesos, which was receiving close study when the year ended.
48. When the year's work of the Migration Committee is surveyed, certain essential points stand out. The first that must be frankly recognised is that the tar-get of movements for the year was not achieved. The target \vas 120,000 movements, but in the Progress Report to the Sixth Session of the Intergovernmental Committee, prepared in September 1953, the Director pointed out that the total of movements for the year was expected to be only 82,400. In the event, more than this number were moved and the total for the year 'amounted to some 87,501, nearly 10,000 higher than the total for 1952.
49. The second point of interest is the outstanding difference between movements during the first six months and the movements during the second six months. Movements up to 30st June were very low during the period 1st July to 31st December monthly movements averaged almost 9,400 ; had this average been possible during the first six months, total movements would not' have been far short of the target.
50. The third point of interest is that the more satisfactory results in 1953 in comparison with the previous year were achieved by virtue of new schemes developed under the auspices of the Committee without the help of the large programmes which had been taken over from I.R.O. in 1952 and provided the bulk of the movements in the first half of that year. In 1953, the absence of such programmes was offset by substantial increases in movements to Argentina, Canada, Brazil and Venezuela. Further, there were significant increases in movements from areas where surplus population or refugee problems were particularly acute. Movements from Trieste whilst movements from Greece were over eight times greater.
51. Thus, to summarise the year's work, although the target wasnot acliieved, the total of mpyements was higher than seemed possible even asilate as September, it wias in fact 12 % higher than the total for 1952: it was achieved without the Help of substantial carry-over of programmes and showed significant improvement where improvement was necessary in terms of future development, particularly from countries such as Italy and Greece, and to eountries in Latin America.
52. The reasons for the overall improvement in 1950 and, above all, the substantial improvement in the latter part of the year, may also be briefly summarised. First, the Committee was able to fulfil its basic function by providing or arranging additional shipping space on routes where shortages had become evident. Secondly, the family reunion schemes which had been initiated in 1952 or early 1953 developed încreasing momentum. Thirdly, the development, in co-operation with Governments and at their request, of supplementary services in connection with the resettlement, placement and training of migrants began to be effective.
53. Some reference should be made to the effect of the Committee's work on the level of spontaneous migration. The Committee's task is to assist persons who could not otherwise be moved, and it should endeavour to increase the total of migration absolutely, not at the expense of spontaneous migration. While this is not a matter for which statistical evidence can be submitted, there is good reason to believe that the Committee's work has, in fact, tended to encourage spontaneous migration. For example, the family reunion séllenles may well have done so ; certainly they have had the complementary effect of reducing the Volume of "returnees". The availability of help from the Committee in transporting the families has beep a strong incentive for the breadwinners to settle down as quickly as possible in the immigration country in spite of difficulties which might otherwise llave led to their return. The knowledge tìiat this help exists for the transport of dependentă Who could not otherwise be moved, encourages other family heads to migrate spontaneously. Further, migrants moved Under Committee schemes become in due course potential sponsors for other migrants.
54. Thus, perhaps the greatest significance of-the year's work is that it has laid down the paths along which future development will proceed. For, although migration made possible with the Committee's assistance has steadily increased, migratory movements as a whole are not yet high enough to alleviate substantially the twin problems of population pressure in Europe and under-population in certain countries overseas. It was demonstrated in 1953 that an organization of Governments directly concerned with migration or sympathising with its aims, could increase the volume and quality of ussisred migration even during a period of general decline. Efforts must now be directed to achieving the targets set by the magnitude of the problems themselves. The foundations have been laid.
| Area of Emigration of migrants finally departed from: embarkation or emplanement centres or other ports of embarkation | TOTAL 1 February 1952 - 31 December 1953 | Сountry of Immigration | TOTAL 1 January - 31 Dec. 1953 | Argentina | Australia | Brazil | Canada | Chile | Israel | United States of Amer. | Venezuela | Others |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | 16,559 | 5,531 | 37 | 423 | 416 | 3,888 | 12 | 75 | 604 | 31 | 45 | |
| Germany | 78,279 | 40,325 | 58 | 7,834 | 1,175 | 27,977 | 513 | 65 | 2,128 | 171 | 404 | |
| Greece | 4,585 | 4,096 | 59 | 2,106 | 1,243 | 368 | 4 | 35 | 18 | 15 | 248 | |
| Italy | 32,582 | 20,975 | 8,738 | 188 | 7,140 | 925 | 124 | 48 | 81 | 3,547 | 184 | |
| Netherlands | 12,358 | 2,296 | 17 | 1,762 | 312 | 40 | 2 | 25 | 124 | — | 14 | |
| Shanghai/Hong-Kong | 4,228 | 3,259 | 22 | 462 | 1,769 | 61 | 25 | 193 | 52 | 5 | 670 | |
| Trieste | 2,074 | 1,367 | 19 | 333 | 227 | 168 | 46 | 1 | 93 | 94 | 386 | |
| Others | 14,500 | 9,652 | 72 | 218 | 420 | 3,495 | 50 | 1,947 | 3,265 | 58 | 127 | |
| TOTAL 1 January/31 December, 1953 | 87,501 | 9,022 | 13,326 | 12,702 | 36,922 | 776 | 2,389 | 6,365 | 3,921 | 2,078 | ||
| TOTAL 1 February, 1952 31 December, 1953 | 165,165 | 9,492 | 28,873 | 22,486 | 45,593 | 2,103 | 3,151 | 44,490 | 5,411 | 3,566 |
Argentine
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Canada
Chilo
Colombia
Costa
Rica
Denmark
France
Germany
Greece
Israel
Italy
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Norway
Paraguay
Sweden
Switzerland
United
States of America
Uruguay
Venezuela
Liaison Mission - Liaison Offices
Argentine - Buenos Aires
Astraila - Canberra
Melbourne
Austria - Vienna
Linz
Salzburg
Brazi - Rio do Janeiro
Chile - Santiago de Chilo
Germany - Bad Godesberg - Bonn
Berlin
Bremen
Frankfurt
Hanover
Karlsruhe
Munich
Hamburg
Greece - Athens
Hong Kong
Italy - Rome
Genoa
Milan
Naples
Trieste
United States of America - Washington
New York
Venezuela - Caracas
1. One of the outstanding points which will hé noted in the -Annual Report for 1953 is that, although the movements effected by the Committee during the first six months or the year reflected a general décline in migration, and were consequently low, movements during the second half of the year were very much higher. There were three main reasons for this improvement : the success of the Committee in providing or arranging additional óceań transport on routes where shortages became evident; the success which attended the Family Reunion Schemes which had been initiated in 1952 or in the early months of 1953 ; and the development in co-operation with Governments, and at their request, of supplementary services concerned with the training,.pre-śeleetion and placement of migrants. This development was continued during the first four months of 1954 with the result that over 40.000 -persons'were moved with the Committee's assistance. If this rate of movement can be continued, ánd there is every reason to believe that it can, the higher target of 118,400 movements during- 1954 will be achieved.
2. A further outstanding feature of the second Irai Ľ of 1953 was the increase in movements from those countries, such as Greece and Italy, where the need is greatest. This improvement has also been continued during 1954. During the first four months 2,874 persons were assisted to migrate from Greece and 21,060 from Italy : these figures compare very favourably with 4,096 and 20,975 respectively for the whole of 1953. Again, there is good reason to believe that this satisfactory development will continue.
3. The various migration sendees, on which so much of this improvement depends and which are dealt with at some length in the Annual Report for 1953 have been continued in. 1954. In Italy the point scheme undertaken with the Government and the International Labour Office for the development of Italian preselection services was completed by the end of 1953. луШг most satisfactory results. After the application of new methods of pre-selection to a progľ/ат е for the recruitment of urban workers, the rate of rejection of migrants at the final soleetion stage decreased from 52 % to only 4 % whilst the cost of the pre-selection and selection process, in relation to the numbers of migrants accepted by the immigration country, fell 'by some 64. %. As a result of the success attending the initial oxporimont, this service is to be continued for a further' period, The assistance given by Oommitteo teams to the Italian authorities in " processing " families for migration to join their breadwinners in Argentina continued with marked success,
4. Langpage training and information services lţave been continued : a Portuguese vocabulary and conversation booklet has been printed for use in Austria, and information booklets regarding Australia and Brazil have been produced in their own language for Greek migrants.
5. The activities of the Committee to promote land settlement of immigrants in overseas ¡ countries have made some headway. A land settlement specialist from the Committee's staff is at present touring several Latin American countries which are' interested in this form of agricultural development. His preliminary reports have noted considerable interest by the Governments concerned and some solid prospects for future developments.
6. A matter for great satisfaction is. the commendable speed with which Member Governments of the Committee are advising the Director of their acceptance of the Constitution, which was approved at the Sixth Session of the Intergovernmental Committee in October, 1953. So far eight Governments have accepted the Constitution, of which five are European Governments, four being Members of the Council,' of Europe. The Governments which have accepted the Constitution are : Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Israel, Canada, Australia, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Other Governments are taking action to ratify the Constitution, as rapidly as their constitutional processes permit, and further notices of acceptance are expected in the immediate future. The Constitution will come into, f orce at the first meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee after at least two-thirds of its members, and a sufficient number whose contributions represent at least 75 % of the administrative part of the budget, have accepted it. It is not necessary to emphasize how important it is for the future of the- Committee's луогк that the Constitution should come into force as quickly as possible.
7. The Annual Report for 1953 describes the relations between the Committee and the Council of Europe as close and regular ; during the early months of 1954 they have been even closer. The Special Representative of the Council of Europe for National Refugees and Overpopulation, Pierre Schneiter, visited Geneva for discussions with the Committee, and the Director was happy to assure him of the full support of the Administration in his work. M. Schneiter was also able to attend, as an Observer, the Seventh Session of the Intergovernmental Committee held recently in Geneva. His presence was greatly welcomed by all, and many Delegations, both European and overseas, made special reference to it in their interventions.
8. In addressing its first report to the Council of Europe in May, 1952, that is to say several months after its creation, the " Provisional Intergovernmental Committee for the Movement of Migrants from Europe ", indicated that the programmes adopted at Brussels were in the nature of an experiment the results of which would permit Governments to gather certain practioal information from which they would be able to determine whether their effort was worth continuing. It was also clear that such an experiment was so closely concerned with European mterests that it would not be able to develop favourably without the support of the European community.
9. At the moment when it has just entered the third year of its existence, the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration, in which the 24 Governments which it comprises lodaj' — in place of the 16 which created it — have renewed their confidence, wishes to emphasize how valuable and even 'decisive to it has been the support which the Council of Europe has accorded it in the course of this experimental period. Created shortly after the Meeting of the Committee of Experts of the Council of Europe, this organisation has been able to take into account the conclusions which these experts reached. It is conscious of having followed the paths they marked out and of having accomplished a task the chief fault of which is probably that it has not yet reached the amplitude desirable.
10. In spite of certain opinions opposed to overseas immigration, the day-to-day realities with which the Committee is in close contact in the European countries of emigration could not but convince it more each day of the magnitude and urgency of the problem on which the Council of Europe has several times placed emphasis and which, in the words of the Committee of Experts, makes necessary the simultaneous pursuit, not merely of this or that particular solution, but of tall solutions, European and extra-European at the same time. Furthermore, the immense absorptive capacity for immigrants of certain overseas countries, has reinforced the Committee's views that ia considerable contribution can perhaps be made by these countries towards a solution of the European problem.
11. In the course of this trial period, which, one may suppose, will come to an end shortly, with the adoption of the Constitution, the Committee has not succeeded until very recently in raising the figures of supplementary migration to the level foreseen : nevertheless, the results obtained show continual progress. But the movement figures in the region of 10,000 per month which have been attained for the last four months, will only be maintained and expanded to a level recognized as indispensable in certain countries if in the period which is now beginning an increased effort, notably of a financial character, is made by the Governments of the various Member States.
12. Created on the most modest scale, the Committee has tried, under the pressure of necessities, to adapt itself gradually to the real exigencies of the problem and to give Governments the services which they have asked of it and which other international organisations were not in a position to render. It presents itself today as an instrument of international co-operation specialised in overseas emigration but responsible also for playing a role in facilitating the realisation of land settlement programmes in undeveloped countries and proceeding with the studies and plans which Governments have entrusted to it.