Speech #1000090960

Also. this month we have had word that a dozen wellknown refuseniks. including losif and Inna Begun. Victor and Irina Brailovsky. Lev Sud. and others have been given permission to emigrate. These same people had been told just a few months ago that their cases would never be considered and that they would never be allowed to emigrate. The numbers. too. are encouraging. In the first half of 1987. 3.092 Soviet Jews were allowed to emigrate. Just last month. 782 Jews left the Soviet Union. Those are startling numbers considering that in all of 1986 only 914 Soviet Jews were given exist visas. And yet our work is far from over and our vigilance cannot yet be relaxed. Alexei Magarik. who first applied to emigrate in 1983. is still in the Soviet Union and not in Israel with his father. Lev Elbert. who is one of the wellknown refuseniks. expected to be given an exist visa with the Beguns and Brailovskys. still has not officially heard that he will be allowed to leave. Ida Nudel. the Guardian Angel of Refuseniks. is still in internal exile and kept from her ever hopeful sister in Israel. Semyon Gluzman. a psychiatrist and former prisoner of conscience whom I first adopted 9 years ago. is still waiting in Kiev. So while the Soviets have allowed for increased emigration and the miraculous releases of the nowfamous refuseniks. for which we are grateful. the Soviets have still not outlined a clear and consistent policy. Immigration and compliance with the Helsinki Agreements cannot be on an ad hoc basic. The Soviet Government must adopt a welldefined and consistent review process for handling emigration requests. That review process must include. for instance. a responsible definition of what constitutes "access to state secrets" and must produce a clear guideline for documentation from family. The Soviets must be made to understand that such a change in immigration policy would not go unrewarded. that such actions would inevitably lead to better trade relations and ultimately even to MFN status. Next week is the Jewish New Year. Rosh Hashanah.