- BERLIN (Reuters) -- Germany
is to stop offering unlimited immigration to Jews from Russia and eastern
Europe from Jan. 1, 2006, ending a policy it launched with the collapse
of the Soviet bloc, German newspapers reported on Saturday.
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- Germany began offering Jews from the former Soviet bloc
the right to settle in the country in 1991 to help rebuild its own Jewish
communities, devastated by the country's Nazi regime. Some 190,000 Jews
had taken up the offer by the end of 2003.
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- But the fact the number of ex-Soviet Jews coming to Germany
has in recent years been higher than the number going to Israel had led
to a policy rethink, the newspapers said.
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- Berliner Zeitung reported around 9,400 ex-Soviet Jews
were expected to come to Germany this year, exceeding the number settling
in Israel by more than 1,000 for the first time.
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- The newspaper said also Berlin's Jewish Community was
under financial pressure because more than three-quarters of immigrant
Jews were reliant on welfare payments.
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- Germany's Interior Ministry was not immediately available
for comment.
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- New rules will mean those applying to come to Germany
will have to show knowledge of German and be under 45 years old. They will
also not be eligible for social aid, the paper said.
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- Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung cited a ministry official
saying Germany's 16 states and federal government agreed on Thursday to
draw up new rules for Jewish immigrants. The ministry declined to say if
the new rules would restrict immigration, the newspaper said.
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