His wife. Alla. was a guide with Intourist. the Soviet tourism agency. As soon as Emanuel applied for exist visas to Israel for themselves and their son. he lost his job. Alla was shortly fired from her position with Intouristand has not found work since. Emanuel. despite his highly skilled background. is now employed as a janitor. The Smelianskys have never been told by anyone why they were not permitted to leave. Their positions of seniority in their former jobs afforded them no protection after they applied to emigrate. Their mail has been routinely opened and censored. Their taxes have been arbitrarily increased. Four years ago. in an open letter to the West. Emanuel Smeliansky pleaded: The list of violations by the Soviet government [against us] could be lengthened. and we would ask you to bear in mind that our case is by no means exceptional. Please ask the Soviet government to keep their promises and to grant. to us and our friends suffering similarly. permission to emigrate. The Soviet Union signed a series of binding obligations in Helsinki in 1975 which guaranteed freedom of emigration for its citizens. Those obligations have been consistently and maliciously broken. The Smelianskys are only one of thousands of individuals and families who have been cruelly denied their freedom. intimidated and harassed by the government. and condemned to a stateless existence within their own country.
Keywords matched
emigrate emigration visas