§ The Rev. Martin SmythTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has as to those Soviet Jews who are still unable to leave the Soviet Union or who are unable to teach, learn or practise their religion; and if he will list those individuals about whom his Department is aware.
§ Mr. WaldegraveWe are encouraged by the recent improvements in Soviet human rights, including the granting of exit visas to a number of refuseniks known to us. But while individual gestures are always welcome there274W are many other cases still to be resolved. We want to see, above all, the fundamental reforms needed to ensure that human rights abuses do not recur. The quantity of such visas should not be dependent on lobbying by Her Majesty's Government and non-governmental organisations nor on the intervention of Mr. Gorbachev or Mr. Shevardnadze, however welcome these interventions may be.