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REFUGEES ARCHIVES RECORDS Organized efforts to resolve the problem of refugees remaining in Europe continued during 1955 under the auspices of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United States Escapee Program, the Intergovern- mental Committee for European Migration and the voluntary agencies. Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees was originally established by the United Nations in December, 1950 and was continued in 1953 for a period of five years. Dr. G. J. van Heuven Goodhart (Netherlands) was re-elected High Commissioner for the same term. The functions of the office are to provide legal and political protection for refugees, and to seek permanent solutions for the problem by assisting governments and voluntary agencies to facilitate the voluntary repatriation of refugees or their assimilation in new countries of residence. In October 1955, the High Commissioner reported to the United Nations that fifteen governments had ratified the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees promulgated by the diplomatic conference convened by the General Assembly of the United Nations at Geneva in 1951. The Convention, which came into force on April 22, 1954, codifies the rights of refugees and gives them status in international law. Among the rights and privileges accorded to refugees under the

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