The World - News from Jan. 8, 1986

Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union increased last year with 1,140 arrivals registered at the Vienna transit center, the Intergovernmental Committee for Migration announced in Geneva. The number was up from a record low of 904 in 1984. But it still was low compared to the 51,330 Jews who were allowed to leave the Soviet Union in 1979 before the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan heightened East-West tension. Since the 1971 start of the resettlement program, 252,898 Soviet Jews have arrived in Vienna. Of these, according to the committee, 61.1% opted for new homes in Israel while the rest went to Western countries.