§ Mr. Jannerasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the Soviet Jews refused permission to emigrate from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on whose behalf Her Majesty's Government have made representations to the Government to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; and what were the dates on which such representations were (a) made and (b) replied to.
§ Mr. RentonThe following Soviet Jewish cases were raised during 1985 with the Soviet authorities at ministerial or official level:
- Anatoly Shcharansky—May, July, August
- Alexandr Kholmiansky—February, May
- Roald Zelichenok—July, August
- Iosif Begun—May
- Ida Nudel—May
All five individuals have applied for, and been refused, permission to emigrate to Israel. They were also the victims of other serious forms of deprivation of liberty and harassment. In all cases, our representations were met either with no response, or with the answer that these cases had been dealt with in accordance with Soviet law. The cases of a few Soviet Jews having family links with the United Kingdom and seeking to come here have also been raised among bilateral personal cases. In the interests of those concerned, however, we do not normally make details of these public.