Mr. Speaker. in recent years. we have become increasingly aware that the Soviet Union is permitting more o.f its citizens to emigrate to other countries. For example. last year the Soviet Union issued 28 864 exist visas. Records show that as of June 30 of this year. almost 25.000 people have been allowed to leave the country. On the surface. this may seem that Soviet authorities are easing their emigration policies. but we must take into consideration the fact that thousands more are applying than in previous years. While this news is somewhat heartening. there are still thousands of individuals being denied their freedom. I would like to draw my colleagues attention to the plight of two Russian Jews who have tried to emigrate to Israel. Yakov and Rimma Sosna first applied for an exit visa in 1974. They have been consistently denied permission to emigrate ostensibly on the grounds that Rimma Sosna had access to state secrets while employed as a telecommunication engineer. She lost her job soon after their son. Boris. had applied for an exit visa in 1973.
Keywords matched
emigrate emigration visas visa