While the committee faced criticism that it was an establishment of the imperial regime, it undertook some novel initiatives to help the refugees. At the end of 1916, the committee distributed a detailed questionnaire soliciting feedback from the refugees. In spring 1917, it organized an exhibition of refugee handicraft in Petrograd to showcase that they were hardworking people, demonstrate and appreciate cultural differences, and tell stories of refugee plight. The committee also helped refugees fleeing the Armenian, Greek, and Assyrian genocides in the Ottoman Empire.