On July 6, 1938, American president Roosevelt organised an international conference on Jewish refugees from Germany. Thirty-two countries convened in the French town of Évian-les-Bains. Among the participants were the United States, England, France, the Netherlands, Australia, Switzerland, Mexico, and a number of South American states.
Most government leaders said that they sympathised with the Jewish refugees, but they did not want to admit more refugees. They had already taken in so many refugees and were afraid of tensions between the newcomers and their own populations. Haiti and the Dominican Republic were the only countires willing to accept tens of thousands of refugees, but the United States would not allow Haiti's offer. In the end, several hundred Jews found refuge in the two countries.
And so, the conference yielded no measures to improve the situation of the Jewish refugees.