Behind the Headlines: Breakup of the Soviet Union Creates Uncertainty About Jewish Emigration

The breakup of the Soviet Union into 12 independent republics has raised big questions here and in Israel about whether and how the massive exodus of Jews from the former USSR will continue.

Largely at the prodding of the United States, the new Commonwealth of Independent States has pledged to abide by human rights commitments made by the Kremlin during Mikhail Gorbachev’s nearly seven years in power.

But in reality, the individual republics are not bound by the emigration reform law adopted by the Supreme Soviet last spring, nor by such international agreements as the Helsinki human rights accords.

And Washington’s traditional carrot and stick, the Jackson-Vanik Amendment, is useless, since trade relations do not yet exist between the United States and the various republics.

The republics are nevertheless expected to continue Gorbachev’s policy of allowing virtually free emigration for Jews, because they do not want to alienate the West, whose investment capital they badly need.

But emigration policy is not likely to be an immediate focus of attention for the leaders of the new commonwealth, who must first settle such basic issues as control of the defense forces, whether to adopt a unified monetary policy and coordination of foreign policy.

Adopting either individual or collective policies on emigration “isn’t the highest priority for these republics” at the moment, said Martin Wenick, executive director of the National Conference on Soviet Jewry.

NO CENTRAL EMIGRATION MECHANISM

On the practical level, there is “no longer a central mechanism” for processing those who wish to emigrate, observed Wenick.

In the past, Soviet Jews applied for exit visas from OVIR, the central Soviet emigration agency. Now OVIR’s functions will be taken over by the interior ministries of the individual republics. Whether they will continue to function the same way remains to be seen.

For the moment, the OVIR bureaucracy still exists and is functioning, but at the direction of local officials, rather than a central authority in Moscow. Other than the usual bureaucratic delays, no problems have been reported to date.

One guide to how the republics will proceed is the emigration flow from the Baltic states, which has not changed much since Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia achieved independence in October.

They have basically continued processing emigres the same way as Moscow did, said Wenick. “We have received no complaints.”

But Jewish groups and Israeli officials are concerned that growing Moslem fundamentalism may inspire the Central Asian republics eventually to curtail Jewish emigration, particularly if they fall under the influence of neighboring Iran.

Perhaps in the hope of heading off such a development, a delegation from Israel’s Foreign Ministry will visit the Asian republics shortly.

In the Slavic republics, there is some doubt as to whether Jews will enjoy the same rights as other ethnic groups. In Ukraine, for instance, Jews could be discriminated against if the legislature decides to deny citizenship to the Russian-speaking minority, said Baruch Gur, head of Soviet and Eastern European operations for the Jewish Agency for Israel.

Also in doubt is what happens to Jews who are already in the “emigration pipeline.”

OVER 90,000 SOVIET EXIT VISAS

According to the Jewish Agency, at least 90,000 Jews hold exit visas issued by the former Soviet government, and 35,000 of them hold entry visas issued by the Israeli Embassy in Moscow. It is generally believed that those documents will be recognized by the newly independent republics.

Israeli officials expect, for the moment, to continue issuing entry visas from the embassy in Moscow. But technically, that embassy now only represents Israel’s interests in Russia.

Israel last week recognized the independence of all of the former Soviet republics. But neither it nor the United States has immediate plans to open embassies in all of their capitals.

Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy told the Cabinet on Sunday that he will soon travel to Kiev to set up diplomatic representation in the Ukrainian capital. Also planned in the near future is an embassy in Riga, the capital of Latvia.

In the absence of Israeli diplomatic missions in the other republics, the Jewish Agency is likely to handle emigration matters.

The Jewish Agency currently has 12 offices throughout the former Soviet Union. It is opening one in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, and is planning to open three more: in the Russian Urals city of Ekaterinaburg, formerly Sverdlovsk; Riga; and Kharkov, in eastern Ukraine.

The United States is faced with the same problem, but it currently only has consular representation in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kiev.

“Given budgetary circumstances and logistical problems, I would not expect much of a change in the near future,” said Wenick.

For the foreseeable future, Jews wishing to enter the United States under its refugee program will have to continue to apply at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, which for those outside Russia will now mean a trip to a foreign country.

NEW PASSPORTS EXPECTED

So far, there have been no restrictions for citizens of the former Soviet Union on travel from one republic to another. But officials expect the internal Soviet passport to be replaced eventually with ones issued by the individual republics.

Emigration for Jews could actually become simplified if the republics create a Western-style passport system. Mark Talisman, Washington representative of the Council of Jewish Federations, said he has heard that such a system is being contemplated in Russia.

Jewish agencies that assist emigres from the former Soviet Union in rejoining families already in the United States say they hope the current Moscow-based system of processing potential refugees will continue.

There is also hope that the U.S. refugee ceiling of 50,000 Jews from the Soviet Union set for the 1992 fiscal year will now be applied to the republics that formerly constituted the union.

But like many other details, that remains to be seen. As Wenick of the National Conference put it, “We’re in a transition period.”

(Contributing to this report were JTA correspondents Howard Rosenberg in Washington and Yehonathan Tommer in Jerusalem.)