UN General Assembly
1956

21. Up to now we have had a series of piecemeal approaches and nobody could pretend that we have achieved much more than a series of unsatisfactory palliatives. So far little progress seems to have been made in achieving a permanent and firm settlement of the refugee problem. This basic aspect of the question of the resettlement of the Arab refugees, as distinct from their mere maintenance — keeping them alive — has to be tackled as part of a comprehensive approach to the region. Even Australia; a geographically very distant country, has contributed nearly $1,250,000 towards the maintenance — the keeping alive — of the Arab refugees. In such a comprehensive approach, perhaps we should remember that the original idea for the partition of Palestine envisaged an economic union: is it entirely fantastic to hope for some form of economic association of the Middle East States, which could open the door to substantial economic aid from abroad, which present discord and conflict is making impossible?