Emigration of Soviet Jews Reported Close to Its Lowest Level
GENEVA — Moscow allowed only 944 Soviet Jews to emigrate in 1986--the second-lowest annual total on record, refugee agencies said today.
Last year’s figure was just 22 higher than the all-time low of 922 recorded in 1984 by the Intergovernmental Commission for Migration.
The commission, established after World War II to assist refugees in Europe, began helping Soviet Jewish emigrants in 1971 when there were 12,680 arrivals at its resettlement center in Vienna.
Annual arrivals climbed steadily to reach a record 51,330 in 1979 but Moscow then clamped down on Jewish emigration, with numbers dropping to 21,470 in 1980, 9,860 in 1981, 2,700 in 1982 and 1,320 in 1983.
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