I am honored to be a part of this special order focusing on the tragic plight and continued oppression of Soviet Jews. With the summit meeting between President Reagan and Soviet leader Gorbachev just around the corner. I believe this attention to the status of Soviet Jews and their right to emigrate is very timely and important. The Government of the Soviet Union. the same government that is wooing the West with its proclaimed policy of "glasnost" suppresses religion. encourages antiSemitism. and ignores its obligations under the Helsinki Human Rights Treaty to allow for freedom of emigration. The Soviet Government has targeted innocent Jews by withholding emigration visas thereby forcing Jews who want to leave to remain prisoner in a country that despises them. Should any of these Jews protest their treatment or question the Soviet authorities. they face the serious consequences of unemployment. restrictions on their already guarded lives. imprisonment or banishment to a psychiatric hospital or hardlabor gulag. Because of the deplorable living conditions and discrimination. over 350.000 Soviet Jews have begun the application process to leave.
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emigrate emigration visas