British Mandate: A Survey of Palestine: Volume I - Page 224

CHAPTER VII.

the provision either of casual employment or monthly relief. With the exception of the Poles, the remaining refugees are either self supporting or, in the case of some of the Jews, supported by Jewish institutions.

89. The Poles are in an entirely different position. With the removal from the Polish relief lists of 2,500 Polish Jews as mentioned in paragraph 3 above, there remain some 3,000 Poles in receipt of refugee relief allowances from funds formerly remitted by the 'London' Polish Government to their welfare delegation in Jerusalem, and now remitted by His Majesty's Government through the Interim Treasury Committee and controlled by a Palestine Government committee which is the local representative of the Interim Treasury Committee. The scale of these allowances is as follows :-

Single person £P. 12 per month

Married couple £P. 23 per month

Family of three persons £P. 33 per month

Family of four persons £P. 40 per month

Family of five or more persons £P. 48 per month

Any excess of earnings over £P.12 per month is deducted from the basic relief payment; e.g. a single person earning £P.15 per month would receive only £P.9 in relief allowance. The total monthly cost of these relief allowances, as from the 1st of February, 1946, will be about £P.30,000. In addition about £P.35,000 per month has hitherto been expended on various welfare activities. It is not possible to say by how much this latter amount will be reduced with the removal of the 2,500 Jews from the lists. A further sum of about £P.0,000 a month is expended on education and will not be reduced on account of the removal of the Jews from the relief lists. The repatriation of Polish refugees is now under consideration by U .N .R.R.A. and His Majesty's Government.

90. U .N .R.R.A. maintain a small office in Jerusalem the head of which is entitled "Representative of U.N.R.R.A. in Palestine and the Levant". Under the directions of the Middle East office of U.N.R.R.A. in Cairo the Jerusalem office handles the registration for repatriation of such categories of European refugees as it is from time to time authorised to handle.

91. A Czech repatriation mission, of two persons, arrived in Palestine in January, 1045, and left again in August, after having registered the number of Czechs shewn under (a) in paragraph 2 above. The records of registration have now been taken over by the Czechoslovak Consul-General by whom actual repatriation arrangements will, it is understood, be made for those who cannot make their own.

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