FINAL
R C H
Soviet Politics Slows
Local Emigration Rate
SUSAN GRANT
Staff Writer
A
lthough a slow,
steady flow of Soviet
Jews continues to ar-
rive in Detroit, Jewish
Resettlement Service offi-
cials are not sure how long
the influx will last.
Recent political changes
within the Soviet Union
have created a feeling that
the doors to freedom may
soon close, said Lydia
Kuniaysky, resettlement
caseworker.
"The Soviet Union in gen-
eral has made a sharp turn
to the right," Ms. Kuniaysky
said, adding the conse-
quences have been dramatic
from what she has been told
by recent immigrants. "No
one pronounces the words
`glasnost' or 'perestroika'
anymore," she said.
Democrats are quickly be-
ing pushed out of the Com-
munist Party and right wing
leaders are taking com-
mand, she said. The military
seems to have a firmer hold
on Soviet President Mikhail
Gorbachev's position, she
added.
The turn to the right has
made getting out of the
Soviet Union more difficult,
Ms. Kuniaysky said. Even
those who already have their
permits to come to the
United States are now being
denied exit visas by the
Soviet government, she said.
While the number of
refuseniks has dropped con-
siderably in the past few
years, Soviet officials are
again denying people the
right to leave the country,
Ms. Kuniaysky said.
According to figures from
the Union of Councils for
Soviet Jews, the number of
refuseniks between October
and January was higher
than for the entire previous
year. For every refusenik
given permission to leave,
there are two new refusals.
When Soviet Jews do get
their exit visas, finding and
paying for the Aeroflot plane
to take them to the United
States is another struggle,
Ms. Kuniaysky said.
Pan Am has stopped its
flights to Moscow and there
is only one daily Aeroflot
flight to the United States,
she said. Because Aeroflot
only accepts dollars, not
rubles, for its international
flights, many Soviet Jews
find it difficult to pay the
plane fare.
They also must get past
other economic barriers, in-
cluding Gorbachev's newest
edict prohibiting large
amounts of rubles to be
withdrawn and the 700
rubles per person tax to
emigrate to Israel, said
Pamela Braun Cohen, na-
tional president of the Union
of Councils for Soviet Jews.
The numbers of Jews ar-
riving in Israel diminished
in January to 13,360, a 62
percent drop from previous
months, Ms. Cohen said,
who has no immigration rate
figures for the United
States. While some Jews
rather not risk going to
Israel in the midst of the
Persian Gulf war, the Union
believes the slowdown can
also be attributed to Soviet
controls.
But others are so frighten-
ed to be in the Soviet Union
that the Gulf war doesn't
scare them, Ms. Kuniaysky
said. They are more worried
about civil war breaking out
within the Soviet Union, es-
pecially in the Baltic states,
Moldavia and Georgia.
She knows of a few Soviet
Jews whose relatives ex-
pected them to come to
Detroit, but at the last
minute decided to go to
Israel because they could
leave the Soviet Union
faster, Ms. Kuniaysky said.
"It's difficult to tell when
to expect new arrivals," Ms.
Kuniaysky said. "I have one
woman, her son and his wife
who were supposed to be
coming in March. But then
they were unable to get
tickets. Now they have
tickets. But we don't really
know (when they will
come)."
Since November, 95 Soviet
Jews have come to Detroit,
_including 10 who came in
February, she said. She ex-
pects 50 more to arrive in
March, but she hasn't
received any figures for
either April or May.
HIAS tells her that the
bulk of the 40,000 Soviet
Jews expected to arrive in
the United States from now
until the end of September
will come after May, Ms.
Kuniaysky said. Yet, that
calculation can easily
change, especially if the
Soviet government denies
more exit visas or getting
plane tickets becomes even
more difficult, she said.
"Resettlement doesn't just
stop when they come in,"
Ms. Kuniaysky said. "It's dif-
ficult the first year or year-
and-a-half."
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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
15