U.S. Takes Step Toward Shutting Down ‘vienna-rome Pipeline’ for Refugees

The State Department has moved a step closer toward shutting down the “Vienna-Rome pipeline” use by tens of thousands of Soviet Jews to seek entry to the United States as refugees.

The department surprised many by announcing in Moscow last week that the United States would no longer process refugee applications in Rome for Soviet Jews and others who did not obtain their Israeli entry visas by Nov. 5.

That deadline placed a new constraint on Soviet Jews and Evangelical Christians seeking to enter the United States with Israeli papers.

On Oct. 1, the United States shifted its processing of Soviet refugees from Rome to Moscow and said that from that point on, those wishing to enter the United States as refugees would have to apply for U.S. visas in Moscow.

But it said it would still consider granting refugee status under the old system in Rome to those with Soviet exit visas dated before Oct. 1. Until last week, though, Soviet Jews and Evangelicals were not bound to obtain their Israeli entry visas by any particular date.

A State Department official said that the United States will show a “little bit of flexibility” toward Soviets who received Soviet exit visas by Oct. 1 but did not obtain their Israeli entry visas by Nov. 5.

The State Department official said potential refugees who did not meet the Nov. 5 deadline would have to provide a “very good story,” and predicted that they would probably have to be processed through Moscow, not Rome.

“I would anticipate that there are very few people” with good excuses, such as ill health, the official said.

REPORTS OF FORGED VISAS

Under emigration procedures, the Soviet exit visa is exchanged for an Israeli entry visa at the Dutch Embassy, which represents Israeli interests in Moscow in the absence of full diplomatic relations between Israel and the Soviet Union.

Holders of Israeli entry visas then travel to Vienna, where 85 to 90 percent “drop out” of their “intention” to immigrate to Israel. They then travel to Rome, where they file applications for U.S. refugee status at a processing center.

Refugee status, granted to foreigners who demonstrate “a well-founded fear of persecution,” confers with it access to U.S. government funds for transportation and initial resettlement, as well as the opportunity to become a U.S. citizen.

The new deadline “puts a lid” on the number of Soviets entering the Rome-Vienna pipeline, and establishes a “more visible limit,” said the State Department official.

He said there are “stories going around” that some of the Soviet exit visas are being forged so that they will be dated prior to Oct. 1. The official said that with Soviet authorities, “anything can be done, given the right amount of money.”

Mark Talisman, Washington representative of the Council of Jewish Federations, claimed that fraudulent Soviet exit visas “are turning up in significant numbers.” A similar claim was made by David Harris, Washington representative of the American Jewish Committee.

Karl Zukerman, executive vice president of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, acknowledged that there is now “a finite population” of potential Soviet refugees flying to Rome.

23,000 ALREADY IN PIPELINE

Zukerman said there were 23,000 Soviet Jews in the pipeline as of early November, and roughly 17,000 Soviet Jews who have met the U.S. deadline but not yet left the Soviet Union. He said that 10,400 Soviets, 8,000 of whom are Jewish, entered the pipeline in October — the highest monthly total ever.

He added that the October rate seemed to be holding for the first few days of November, and that the number may not drop dramatically for another three months.

The latest deadline does not require potential refugees to leave the Soviet Union by any given date, so it is still unclear to the United States how many potential refugees are really out there who meet the new U.S. requirements to be processed in Rome.

The State Department official said “the potential is there that more than 50,000 people will show up in Rome” seeking U.S. refugee status as Soviet refugees.

The Bush administration’s quota for Soviet refugees this fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, is 50,000. If more than 50,000 arrive soon in Rome, then those above the ceiling “would have to wait for a year” at least before their refugee applications were adjudicated, the official added.

He added that the State Department prefers that such potential refugees stay in the Soviet Union rather than enter the Rome-Vienna pipeline any time soon because of the backlog there, estimated at 25,000 Soviets, and the high cost of keeping them there.