International Emergency Conference for Spanish Refugees (report)

              INTERNATIONAL EMERGENCY CONFERENCE FOR SPANISH REFUGEES.
Held in Paris, 15th to 16th July, 1939.
I attended the International Emergency Conference for Spanish Refugees, held in Paris on the 15th and 16th July, 1939, as one of the accredited delegates from the Spanish Medical Aid Committee.
1. GENERAL.
The Conference was a very good conference, with a keen, interested audience, a good platform, well-chosen speakers, and the bulk of the speeches were to the point and dealt with basic issues concerning refugees from Spain in France.
There was a large British delegation, among which were Mrs. Manning and myself from the Spanish Medical Aid Committee, Mrs. Brown and Mr. Brown, and delegates from the Joint National Co-ordinating Committee.
2. THE CONFERENCE.
On Saturday morning there was the general statement of the case, and while some speakers stressed emphatically the very important point that the refugee problem was not one for France alone but was an international problem of  great gravity for participation by all democratic countries, France was in a peculiar position because of its position and proximity as the venue in which the bulk of the refugees were situated.
In the afternoon the sessions were broken up by the division into various Commissions.  There were six commissions all dealing with special subjects, namely:-
First Commission — Settlement and work of the refugees.
Second    " — Material aid and supplies.
Third        " — Aid to Children, which Mrs. Manning attended because of her thorough knowledge and experience with this problem.
Fourth       " — Sanitary Aid —  really Medical aid, I was honoured by being appointed Chairman of this commission, with Dr. Rouques of France, the