Former Soviet Union
In Moscow and Kyiv, HIAS helps Jews and others from 43 countries receive protection and seek asylum or resettlement.
Background
For most of its 127-year history, HIAS has assisted Jewish refugees and migrants from the area known as the Russian Empire, the USSR, and now the Newly-Independent States of the former Soviet Union.
The region's wars, revolutions and dictatorships of the last century forced millions of Jewish immigrants to other countries, and HIAS has helped them to escape persecution and find better lives.
During the last 20 years, HIAS assisted more than 400,000 Jews from the former Soviet Union in starting new lives in the United States.
The Former Soviet Union Today
The region's tumultuous history continues: after the fall of the USSR, unstable political, social, and economic conditions in many countries of the former Soviet Union have fed armed conflicts, civil strife, and extreme forms of nationalism and xenophobia. The fear that many Jews and other minorities have for the future continues to precipitate immigration. The region is also subject to a variety of sizable internal migratory movements, as well as migrations from problem areas in Asia and Africa.
Services
HIAS monitors conditions in the region that affect emigration of Jews and other vulnerable groups, and brings specific problems to the attention of appropriate international and governmental organizations. Our offices in Moscow and Kyiv implement several specific programs providing refugees with much-needed information and legal assistance.
