New Australian Immigration Law Could Allow in More Soviet Jews

One thousand Jews, many of them from the Soviet Union, could be allowed to immigrate to Australia in the next year under recent changes in Australia’s immigration laws.

The Australian immigration minister, Gerry Hand, said the new program will “admit certain people who did not meet (traditional) criteria but were nevertheless considered by the government to be in special need.”

This includes relatives of Jews who have already immigrated to Australia, according to Immigration Department sources. Kurdish refugees are also likely to benefit from the changes.

The change in policy is thought to be the fulfillment of campaign pledges made by Prime Minister Bob Hawke to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry before last year’s national elections.

Hawke wrote at the time, “We are prepared to seek to make provisions within our immigration guidelines to permit a limited humanitarian family reunion program, which would allow Soviet Jews to join their relatives already settled in Australia over a defined period.”

Leslie Caplan, president of the Australian Jewish organization, said that the Jewish community welcomes the policy as it applies to Jews and to humanitarian immigration in general.

An Immigration Department official attacked speculation that up to 12,000 Jews, mostly from the Soviet Union, would come to Australia in each of the next eight years as “confused nonsense.”

However, as no final decisions have been made regarding the source countries for the newly eligible immigrants, the official said, it is not unreasonable to plan for about 1,000 Soviet Jews to arrive.