I am gratified to have this opportunity to participate in todays activities marking "International Day of Concern for Soviet Jews." The people we recognize this day suffer religious. civil. and personal persecution every day of their lives because of their faith. Our commemoration of their trials is a solemn reminder of their slow. tortuous. and uncertain path to freedom. I share the American Jewish communitys concerns about recently released statistics on emigration of Jews from the Soviet Union. In 1983. a total of 1.314 Jews left the Soviet Union. whereas just 4 years previous. over 4.000 left every month. Clearly. the Soviet Union is tightening its handling of political offenders. and at the same time. thumbing its nose at the West and its attempts to move these people out of the U.S.S.R.
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emigration