1. League of Nations and the Problem of Refugees
A relative powerlessness when confronting the tensions
of the 1930s

2. Introduction
Going beyond moral posturing, the question arises of the true thrust of the action undertaken by the LoN in terms of refugee protection and its actual capacity to internationalise the question.
German Jews try to emigrate into Palestine. Berlin, Germany, in January 22sd, 1939.
— DIZ Muenchen GMBH, Sueddeutscher Verlag Bilderdienst
League of Nations (1938)

3. 1) Progressive engagement under the pressure of events
In the beginning, there was the Russian problem
Fridtjof Nansen,
LoN High Commissioner
to cover Russian refugees
(1921)

4. The framework for intervention by the Lon (Nansen Report, 1921)
Responsibility limited to providing legal and political protection
Intervention of a temporary nature
The LoN’s mission is to coordinate

5. The sharing of responsabilities within the LoN
Political and legal matters
High Commissioner ( )
Nansen International Office for Refugees ( )
Technical aspects
International Labour Office ( )
LoN Secretariat ( )

6. Seeking a new response when faced with the German problem
James Grover McDonald,
High Commissioner
for refugees coming
from Germany (1933)

7. 2) Towards an organisation with a wider brief
Geneva, 28 October 1933 : Convention on the international status of refugees
It was only to apply from 13 June 1935 and ratified by Belgium, Bulgaria, Egypt, France and Norway, but with major reservations.

8. The redeployment of LoN activities
Michael Hansson, president of the Nansen International Office for Refugees ( )
Sir Neill Malcolm, High Commissioner for refugees from Germany ( )

9. Unifying LoN bodies
July 1938 : foundation of the International Refugee Committee, based in London (outside the LoN)
September-december 1938 : merger between NIO and High Commissioner for Germans in High Commissioner for Refugees under protection of the LoN
1939 : Sir Herbert Emerson, High Commissioner for Refugees and Director of the ICR

10. 3) Insurmountable obstacles
The failure to define a clear legal status
An unsuitable internal operating mode
Caught between the ideal of human rights and national sovereignty : The example of France

11. Detective, n°500, in May 26, 1938 © National Museum of the History and the Cultures of the Immigration, France
Xenophobic demonstration of Parisian students in front of the Faculty of Medicine, in February 1st, 1935 © Roger-Viollet

12. Conclusion
A refugee is both an individual in need of help and a part of a collective phenomenon that the international community needs to take charge of.
The 1951 Refugee Convention (