By the end of World War II, millions of people in Europe had been forced to flee from their homes and were living in camps for refugees and displaced persons.

Relief agencies called on other nations to help to resettle these people. At the same time, Australia was suffering from shortages in the work force and its small population and isolation increased its sense of vulnerability.

To increase the number of workers available for defence and development, Prime Minister Joseph Chifley approved an urgent recruitment campaign in Europe to attract migrants. The Australian Government also sent officers to select people from the camps to migrate to Australia. The slogan ‘populate or perish’ was used to help the Australian population to accept this large intake of migrants.