Stolars rights as a disabled World War II veteran have been denied. The Soviets refuse to register his family as aliens with the right to live and work. and 22yearold Mikhail has been denied his right to work or study since he was 16. They also refuse to make any statement as to why they are denying the Stolars their visas. even though Gitas former employer has certified that she participated in no secret work and it has been 9 years since she retired. There are a multitude of other examplesdocumented cases of hardship. separated families. and persecution more severe than Abe Stolars. The Helsinki Accords. which the Soviet Union signed. require respect for the rights of religious and ethnic groups. They also forbid governments from stopping people who want to emigrate and rejoin their families. The Soviet Union. however. increasingly ignores these agreements. Recent evidence from the Soviet Union shows that diminishing numbers of Jews are being allowed to emigrate while the incidence and severity of discrimination against the Jewish population are growing. In 1979. 51.000 Jews were allowed to leave the Soviet Union. In 1980 this figure dropped to 21.000 and in 1981 it fell again to only 9.450. Every month since last August a new alltime low record of exit visas issued has been set. since emigration started 12 years ago. This trend continued in January with only 290 visas granted. Today more and more Soviet Jews are trying to leave due to the rise in antiJewish activities and practices. The denial of equal rights persists and is increasing in education. employment. denial of religious and ethnic expression. and propaganda promoted in the media.
Keywords matched
emigrate emigration visas