The Public Council for Soviet Jewry has charged that more than 300 Jewish scientists in the Soviet Union are being denied emigration permits. According to speakers at a press conference here, Jewish scientists suffer more than other refuseniks because they lose their jobs and are forced to take unskilled work.
The Council announced that an international meeting of scientists will be held in Vienna this week on their behalf. Vienna was chosen because it was the site of the recent Conference on Peace and Security in Europe.
Avraham Harman, president of the Council, said the campaign on behalf of the scientists was only part of a general campaign for all Jews seeking to leave the USSR. Israel will be represented at the Vienna meeting by several scientists who managed to emigrate. They include Prof. Iosif Irlin of the Weizmann Institute of Science who arrived in Israel two months ago after an eight-year quest for a visa.
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