The attention of the Canadian authorities is repeatedly directed towards the problem of refugees not only by the natural concern Canadians may feel for the thousands of people made exiles by the war and its aftermath, but also by representations which come from two quarters. One of these consists of the international organizations charged with the care of refugees, and in particular the Displaced Persons Bureau of UNRRA and the¹ Inter-governmental Committee on Refugees. The other direction from which representations on behalf of refugees proceed is within Canada. It comprises the numerous foreign language organizations and residents of foreign origin who are seeking asylum for associates and relatives who for various reasons cannot return to their homes in Europe.

Concrete proposals for immigration to Canada have not yet been made on a significant scale in either case. The Displaced Persons Bureau of UNRRA is not yet in a position to indicate the number of people within its charge who cannot be returned to their place of origin. Neither has the Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees raised the question of immigration with any insistence. This Committee is concerned with a problem that is still limited in extent, and that had its origin largely in the anti-Semitic persecutions of the pre-war years and of the early war period when escape from Europe was still possible. As soon, however, as a group of permanent exiles begins to emerge from the mass of displaced persons in Europe and transportation across the Atlantic becomes available for civilian passengers, the question of finding homes for refugees in the American hemisphere will almost certainly confront Canadian representatives on international humanitarian bodies. It is also probable that, when these circumstances prevail, members of the foreign language groups in Canada, who have so far concerned themselves largely with the problem of relief for displaced persons, will begin to ask permission to bring large numbers of their friends and relatives to Canada. Some representations have already been received to this effect.

It is difficult at this time to foresee the problem which will eventually be created by permanent refugees in Europe, but there are already clear indications that certain groups will have to be provided with new homes. Ukrainians and Poles are the most numerous of these, and each group may comprise several hundred thousand persons who will refuse to return to their place of origin in Eastern Europe. Amongst the Poles, former members of the Polish army in the west and servants of the former Polish Government in London will have a special claim to consideration. To these must be added an unknown number of Mennonites from the German colonies in the U.S.S.R. who escaped when these communities were disbanded and who are the concern of the strong Mennonite groups on the American continent. It is also possible that some of the Germans who are being forced to leave former German territories in Eastern Europe will seek refuge on this continent, and inquiries have already been received concerning the feasibility of allowing further groups of Sudeten Germans to join the Sudeten colonies recently established in Canada. There will also be groups of political refugees who fled from the totalitarian governments of central Europe in pre-war years and who have not yet found permanent homes. Finally, there will be a new group of political refugees created by the major political changes which are now taking place in South-eastern Europe. These will be Romanians, Yugoslavs, Bulgarians and perhaps even Greeks, many of whom will have some claim on the sympathy of the western allies because of assistance given during the war, and who are unable to live under the jurisdiction of the new governments in their homelands.

As soon as any effort is made to provide new homes for these refugees, the further problem will emerge of distinguishing between the genuine political refugee and the political agitator who may have laid himself open to the charge of treachery by collaborating with the enemy during the war. Representations have already been received in Ottawa on behalf of a group of Ukrainian refugees including such Ukrainian nationalist leaders as Skoropadsky and Melnik, who operated from Germany and apparently under German auspices in the pre-war years. These men are regarded, with some justification, as traitors and war criminals by the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. There must be numerous other persons, amongst the thousands of Ukrainians, Poles, Yugoslavs and others who found themselves in Central Europe either on the outbreak of war or during the period of German domination of the continent, who have similarly compromised their status as refugees by co-operating with the enemy. Extending the right of asylum to include these people, especially if they desire to continue their political activities to their new homes, might have highly undesirable consequences.

At present, the Canadian Government has made only minor relaxations in its immigration regulations as a consequence of the problem of refugees. In the case of Poles, for example, it has been decided that any member of the Polish armed forces who was a resident of Canada or who is married to a Canadian may be admitted to Canada. Entry will also be given to members of the Polish diplomatic corps who have some special connections with this country , and those now here will not be forced to leave. Permanent landing has also been given to some 3,500 refugees who were admitted to Canada during the war, and this group includes a considerable number of Poles an a German Jews. It is the policy of the Canadian Government, however, as stated by the Minister of Mines and Resources in the House of Commons, to defer the consideration of renewed immigration until conditions of employment amongst returned Canadian servicemen in the post-war period have been determined?

¹De R. G. Riddell.
¹ By R. G. Riddell.

²Voir Canada, Débats, Chambre des Communes, 1945, vol. 3, p. 3614.
²See Canada, Debates, House of Commons, 1945, vol. 3, p. 3537.