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Jews from USSR Who Made Aliyah Lose Group Bid for Dutch Asylum

February 19, 1992
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A group of Jews from the former Soviet Union who came here after immigrating to Israel lost a collective appeal for asylum in the Netherlands.

But their lawyer thinks they may do better if they appeal individually.

The group, which is calling itself Exodus, was turned down by the president of The Hague District Court last week. He rejected their petition to be allowed to stay in Holland until they found another country willing to accept them.

The court also rejected the plea of 52 other former Soviet Jews who were flown back to Israel from Holland.

They appealed for readmission until they could find another country to accept them.

Despite the setbacks, the lawyer for Exodus, Arnold van Driel, said the decision was encouraging. He said it opened the way for each of the Jews here and those temporarily back in Israel to start legal proceedings on an individual basis.

Van Driel explained that the requests for political asylum were rejected on technical grounds because, according to Dutch law, it can be granted only on an individual basis.

The lawyer said these Jews refuse to return to Israel or stay there because they were constantly humiliated and discriminated against.

He claimed the son of one family had been thrown out of an Israeli hospital when it was discovered he was not circumcised.

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