Speech #880282365

New York. N.Y. Although the Womans Zionist Organization of America does not deal directly with refugees. its work does affect refugees who are being resettled into Israel. Hadassahs health. social welfare. and education facilities benefit refugees as well as native Israelis. Last year the HadassahHebrew University Medical Center handled 250.000 patient visits at its outpatient clinic. gave inpatient service to 15.000 people. provided 5.000 patients with surgery and treated 25.500 emergency cases. It Is impossible to determine the number of resettled refugees who availed themselves of these medical services and other Hadassah facilities. Heifer Project. 45 Ashby Road. Post Office Box 278. Upper Darby. Pa. Refugee selfhelp and resettlement programs are the beneficiaries of Heifer Project aid. which takes the form of donations of livestock. poultry. and technical services. In 1963 Heifer Project made 117 shipments to 26 countries. the majority of which went to nonrefugee relief programs. Shipments directly aiding refugees included: 50 pairs of bullocks to Tibetan refugees. 40.200 chicks to the Congo for distribution through the Central Protestant Relief Agency (CPRA). 1.200 chicks to Greece. 27 heifers. 2 bulls. 10 pigs. 10 sheep. and 8 rabbits to Korea. 7 heifers from churches in Germany to Jordan. 500 chicks to the Church World Service program in Burundi. 59 heifers for farm families in Japan. some of whom were resettled from Manchuria. and financial assistance to Hong Kong refugees to purchase cattle and pigs. Organization for Rehabilitation Through Training (ORT). 222 Park Avenue South. New York. N.Y. The basic pattern continues programs activated last year. A most significant new development took place in France. where there are between 150 to 180 Jewish refugees from Tunisia. Morocco. Algeria. and Egypt. The largest number of these are of Algerian origin who arrived in the spring of 1962. During their first year in France. this refugee group was characterized by a high degree of mobility. in search of housing. jobs. and reestablishment of community. This was also a period of dependence on the French Government dole which began to terminate after 1 year. During the latter half of 1963 and the first part of 1964. Government support began to terminate and mobility was greatly reduced. At this point. what had been an increase In the flow of refugee applicants for ORT vocational training services increased substantially and is expected to reach a peak late in 1964 and in 1965. ORT schools in the Paris regions of Strasbourg. Lyon. Marseilles. and Toulouse are already being swamped by additional applicants. asking short term. quick skill acquisition. and by large numbers of young people applying for admission to regular 3 years ORT vocational high schools. Other training services provided for refugees are given in the United States at the Bramson ORT Trade School of New York City for some 700 trainees annually. for European refugees seeking English language training preparatory to migration to ORT centers In Rome and Paris. and for large numbers of Jewish refugees in Israel. International Rescue Committee. Inc. (IRC). 460 Park Avenue South. New York. N.Y. The emphasis of IRCs activity In 1963 was on the Cuban refugees. By the end of 1963 37.250 Cuban refugees had registered with IRCs Miami office. Of these. 16.335 were resettled by the Committee as of April 1964. The Committee also extended assistance to several thousand Cuban refugees not registered in Miami. and it actively promoted relief and resettlement programs for Cuban refugees in Spain. Mexico. and Canada. During 1963. 627 Cuban refugees were aided by IRC in Madrid and were resettled in the United States. Virtually all of these represented family reunion cases. The nonCuban resettlement caseload in 1963 included 459 Chinese refugees from Hong Kong and 200 European refugees admitted under the terms of Public Law 86648. Eightyeight European refugees. mainly Yugoslavs. were settled in Canada. Rehabilitation and relief programs were conducted in European countries of first asylum (Sweden. Germany.