The World - News from June 7, 1989

Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union dropped last month but is still at a 10-year high, according to recent figures. The Geneva-based Intergovernmental Committee for Migration said 3,333 Soviet Jews registered at a Vienna transit center in May, a 20% drop from April. The committee, which helps Jews leave the Soviet Union and resettle elsewhere, said that the May arrivals brought the 1989 total to 16,197. Of that number, 524 chose Israel as their destination; most opt to go to the United States. The 1988 total was 20,082. The program, which began in 1971, reached a peak in 1979, when 51,328 Jews were allowed to leave the Soviet Union.