Formed at the Evian Conference in July, 1938, by 31 of the 32 participating states, the Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees for the first five years of its existence was charged with responsibility for 1) persons in Germany and Austria who had to emigrate on account of political opinions, religious beliefs or racial origin and 2) persons in this category who had left their country of origin but had not yet settled permanently elsewhere. Involuntary migrants from the Sudeten area were added to the scope of the Committee's work after the annexation of that territory to Germany. Prior to the outbreak of the war, approximately 240,000 out of 400,000 refugees were settled.