Speech #920125224

Speaker. it is particularly fitting that the Congress of the United States commend the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration on the occasion of its 20th anniversary. For. it was at the initiative of the Congress. that this international committee. now with 31 member nations. was established in 1951 outside of the framework of the United Nations. This organization. independent of the United Nations and its Iron Curtain country participants. was thus able to approach the task of resettling over 1 million displaced persons. refugees. and escapees left in European camps in the aftermath of World War II. Something had to be done to alleviate the suffering of these unfortunate victims of war and ICEM. as the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration is known. quickly. after its founding. met the challenge. and I am most pleased to say successfully performed the humanitarian task of resetting hundreds of thousands of persons who could not help themselves. As refugees. escapees. and national migrants from the overpopulated areas of Europe were resettled in new lands of opportunity. the question arose whether ICEM had outlived its usefulness and perhaps could be disbanded. However. the fluctuating times of the last decade demonstrated that it was more evident than ever that ICEM has an important role to play in world harmony and was and is looked upon by its member nations as a very necessary instrument to alleviate pressures within certain areas. to lend a helping hand to refugees. and to relocate skilled persons to countries which could not reach their potential in development. Today. the existence of ICEM is as vital and necessary as it was during the years when displaced persons from the refugee camps in Europe were being resettled. ICEM was there in 1956 to offer all types of assistance to the refugees from Hungary. More recently ICEM was there to help those refugees from Czechoslovakia who were able to escape from the crushing pressure of communism resulting from the Russian intrusion into that country. It is a fact of life that political. social. and economic upheavals have and will continue to create new groups of people who look to a better life in different parts of the world. On completion of its 20th year. ICEM will have assisted over 1.800.000 persons in their resettlement. mainly from Europe to overseas countries. Among them were close to 900.000 refugees. ICEM is certainly to be congratulated for its great contribution to the free world and for the orderly and professional way it has carried out its purpose on this 20th 9anniversary of its creation.