The World : Soviet Jews’ Emigration Up

A total of 723 Soviet Jews were allowed to leave their homeland in February, 65 more than were permitted to emigrate a month earlier, the Intergovernmental Commission for Migration said in Geneva. The total of 1,381 for the first two months this year amounts to a monthly average of 690, compared to an average of 667 in 1987 when there were 8,011 departures. That total was the highest in six years, since the 9,860 arrivals in the West in 1981. Israel told the U.N. Commission on Human Rights this was “a welcome increase” but added that “the number of those desiring to leave is still estimated as at least 375,000.” The all-time record was 51,330 in 1979; the record low was 922 in 1984.