I join many of my colleagues who have taken the time to ensure that the plight of the Soviet Jews is not forgotten and remains in the public eye. Each wee!(. we have brought before this House the cast) of an individual or family in the Soviet Union which has been kept from leaving by the Soviet Government. It is important to realize that some individuals are still being denied permission to emigrate. despite the recent Soviet emigration law. on the grounds that they have had access to state secrets that could jeopardize the security of the Soviet Union. One of these refuseniks is Grigory Friedkin. Mr. Friedkin worked as an engineer and a chemical physicist and his wife Enta as a textile engineer at NPO [scientific production combine] Krasnoznamennik. a firm under the auspices of the Ministry of Medium Machine Constructionlater transferred to the Ministry of Defenseuntil they were fired in 1989. In October 1990. Grigory applied for an exit visa. His application was refused in January 1991 because of his alleged "connection with knowledge of state secrets and other grounds touching upon the security of the state." Entas parents have been allowed to leave and are now in Israel. Enta and their two children. Mikhail and Anna. have been granted permission to emigrate as well. Only Grigory. even though he was fired over 2 years ago. has been denied an exit visa and must wait until January 1994. This has created an unjust hardship for this family with no legitimate basis in fact. The Soviet Government should move expeditiously to grant Mr. Friedkins request to emigrate. Waiting 2/2 years would not serve any constructive purpose. but it would mean 21/2 years less time that the Friedkin family can be reunited in Israel. As we have seen the gates o1 the Soviet Union open wide to allow an unprecedented number of Jews to emigrate to Israel. we must remember that these gates still do not allow all those who so desire to leave.
Keywords matched
emigrate emigration visa