We know of several incidents where intimidation was used against people as the result of our visit. The Embassy staff. well informed and sensitive about individual cases. confirmed our suspicions that if anything. things were much worse in the Soviet Union. and will probably not get better in the foreseeable future. Jewish immigration has nearly come to a standstill. Since reaching a yearly high of 51.000 in 1979. it has declined precipitiously to 10.000 in 1981 and a projected total of under 3.000 this year. In Leningrad. we met one evening in the small flat of a refusnik family and nine others to discuss their plight. The frustration was painfully evident. They have been denied visas and subjected to long delays and uncertainty about their applications to leave the country. Longterm refusniks have been threatened with arrest if they came in contact with westerners. Those present shared their own experiences. some of whom were professionals who were dismissed from their jobs and forced into temporary menial employment. Despite the CSCE principle of family reunification. in practice the Soviet authorities have employed various procedural and technical pretexts to delay or deny immigration applications. It is currently estimated that some 50.000 Soviet Jews still are actively seeking to leave Russia. The tales we heard from this small group are being shared by many thousands throughout the country.
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family reunification immigration visas