Griffis to carry on the program through a most difficult winter and -spring. Mr. President. the conditions among the refugees in that area are most acute. .The most recent estimates place the number of refugees at above 720.000. About 230.000 of them are in the Gaza area. As of October 1948 it was estimated by Mr. Gower. of the American Red Cross. that 84 percent of the refugees were children. mothers. the aged and the infirm. Deaths among the refugees from exposure. disease. and starvation are almost impossible to estimate. In many areas the refugees bury the dead in secret. The refugees are so constantly on the move that figures regarding the number of deaths cannot be gathered. but both Egyptian and neutral observers estimated in early December that deaths in the Gaza area alone averaged 120 a night. Pneumonia. dysentery. weakness. and malnutrition among the aged account for a large part of the mortality.
Keywords matched
refugees