Not among the least important of Shanghai's problems. involves the Jewish refugees from Europe, and it is only a natural development. that a! point should be reached when some form "of restrictive action should be taken, The Japanese authorities have announced that henceforth the number of Jewish refugees who will be permitted to reside in Hongkew, Yangtszepoo and other areas under Japanese con-el Will be limited, and a form of registration has been devised in order to enforce this, decision. Tt is believed that this action has been. prompted by the housing shortage in these areas. which militates against the interests: of the increasing Japanese population, and the previous humanitarian attitude of the Japanese authorities must give way to expediency on behalf of their own people. It is estimated that there are about 5000 refugees living In Hongkew, some in camps but many others in houses, and as a large part of the residential area Was destroyed in the hostilities an acute housing. shortage is developing. Every week further contingents of refugees are arriving Shanghai is one of the few spots in the world where their entey is not forbidden, but what ever may be the circumstances which have caused this migration it is no use denying the fact that the problem of accommodating these people Is growing extremely serious, While the fircas north of the Soochow Creek were largely empty, accommodation represented no difficulty, but this migration cannot continue indefinitely. The local refugee committee, fully aware of the facts and the possibilities, are strenuously endeavouring to find a solution but their task is made the harder now by the decision of the Japanese authorities. Henceforth, the stream of refugees will have to be accommodated in already overcrowded Settlement south of the reek and the French Concession, where the refugee population is already far larger than that north of the creek, Looking at it broadly, the situation can no longer be localized. Shanghai has done more than its share in comparison with other parts of the world In housing these homeless wanderers. Nothing less than. international action to divert them elsewhere necessary unless the refugee problem is to assume proportions beyond the al of Shanghai alone to solve.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.