Hias Aided 28,000 Refugees in 1980

During 1980–its centennial year–HIAS helped almost 28,000 refugees find new homes in free nations, according to reports presented to board members from throughout the country at its annual meeting here yesterday. This figure represents the second largest number of people helped by the Jewish migration agency in any single year since World War II, and includes 18,631 Soviet Jews, it was announced by HIAS president Edwin Shapiro.

To carry out its worldwide activities in the past year, the agency spent $18,587,793, which includes funds furnished by the United States government for the resettlement of 5,157 Indochinese refugees, 2,781 Cubans and smaller numbers of other HIAS-assisted emigrants from other countries.

Leonard Seidenman, the newly-appointed executive vice president of HIAS, told board members the agency “is confident that the Reagan Administration will continue in the great American tradition of extending welcome and support to refugees,” He noted that President Reagan has frequently expressed his commitment and compassion for the plight of refugees worldwide, “and we look forward to seeing these sympathies reflected in continuing support” for these programs.

In discussing the future resettlement of Soviet Jews, Seidenman reported on a plan developed late in 1980 to provide these refugees “with a more accurate picture of the positive possibilities offered by Israeli resettlement. Jews in the USSR, have been subjected to years of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic propaganda, and deserve a more honest and realistic view of the constructive opportunities available to them in Israel.”

Seidenman asserted that the plight of thousands of Jews in a number of countries “has grown more serious in the past year,” and the agency pledged–through several resolutions–to continue its assistance to members of these “oppressed and endangered” overseas Jewish communities.