Speaker. I rise today to urge this body to consider the plight of 4.000 Syrian Jews who are being held in that country against their will. All they ask is for the internationally recognized right to emigrate. However. instead of being allowed to leave Syria. Syrian President Assad has ordered his secret police to keep 24hour surveillance of the Syrian Jews. In many cases. he has allowed these Jews to be jailed without trial and tortured without recourse simply because of their religious belief. Ironically. to pacify international concern. Assad has signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which guarantees the right of emigration. But we should not be fooled. President Assad and his thugs cannot have it both ways. The international community. including this body. are the only hope for Syrian Jews. I hope my colleagues will take steps to elevate this issue so that the basic human right to emigrate will be extended to the 4.000 Jews currently being held against their will by one of the most repressive regimes in the world. I am a member of the congressional caucus on Syrian Jewry. which is dedicated to shedding light on the oppression faced by Jews living under the regime of President Assad. I commend my colleagues.
Keywords matched
emigrate emigration