Soviet Jews comprise the third largest surviving Jewish community in the world. Jews in the Soviet Union have been struggling to achieve basic human rights. including the right to maintain their own religion and culture. The right to leave any country that denies one their heritage is an internationally recognized human right. yet in the Soviet Union permission to emigrate is given arbitrarily. In recent years. the number of Jews granted exit visas has virtually come to a halt. The rate of Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union has declined 97 percent over the past 5 years. Fewer than 900 Jews were allowed to leave the U.S.S.R. during 1984. The reduction in exit visas has left an estimated 20.000 refuseniks stranded. This figure is a conservative estimate. since it accounts only for those Jews who submitted formal applications and received formal refusals. The figure does not include those who have been arbitrarily denied even the right to apply for exit permits. those who have applied but have received no official answer from the Government. or those who choose not to publicize their plight for fear of reprisals. Jews categorized as refuseniks have been increasingly treated as outcasts from Soviet society. The Soviet policies aimed at Jewish emigration have been accompanied by an escalation of efforts to isolate and intimidate Jewish activities. As it has become almost impossible to leave the Soviet Union. it has become unbearable to exist as a Jew within the Soviet Union. Last year.
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emigrate emigration visas