Since then. however. their numbers have steadily dwindled and their living conditions have deteriorated as result of physical persecution. land confiscation. enslavement. and forced conversion to Islam or Christianity. Today approximately 28.000 Jews remain in Ethiopia. living in the northwestern part of the country. Another 3.000 have managed to find their way to refugee camp facilities in neighboring Sudan. even though emigration from Ethiopia is barred under Ethiopian law and thus is highly difficult and dangerous. Camp living conditions are very poor. and hundreds of the Jewish refugees have died from malnutrition and disease. Approximately. 4.000 Ethiopian Jews are living in Israel. Most of them have arrived in recent years. including approximately 1.600 of them this year. When I was in Israel last January. I was privileged to meet and talk with some of these immigrants. I was deeply moved by their courage. by the stories of the suffering they had endured prior to emigration. and by their fervent religious Zionism. My belief that all Ethiopian Jews who wish to emigrate to Israel should be permitted to do so was reaffirmed and strengthened. Mr. President.
Keywords matched
emigration emigrate immigrants refugees refugee