Afterword

Abstract

By 1989, when Gorbachev’s perestroika was in its fifth year, it began to appear that for the first time the nationality component in emigration would become less important or ultimately insignificant as the USSR moved gradually toward honoring the international human rights guarantees it had made over the years. At the time of this writing, the Supreme Soviet was considering a new law on entry into and exit from the USSR that would remove the requirement of an invitation in order to initiate the application process, set strict limitations on secrecy classifications so as to prevent the arbitrary denial of permission to leave and place property claims by relatives against those desiring to leave in a court of law (rather than under the jurisdiction of the Department of Visas and Registration).