CONFIDENTIAL POSS DUPE PAGE 01 PRAGUE 02873 01 OF 02 201425Z 53 ACTION EUR-08 INFO OCT-01 SS-14 ISO-00 NSC-05 NSCE-00 SP-02 L-01 H-01 VO-01 SCA-01 INR-05 CIAE-00 PM-03 ORM-01 SR-02 RSC-01 /046 W --------------------- 042987 R 201143Z NOV 74 FM AMEMBASSY PRAGUE TO SECSTATE WASHDC 7281 INFO AMEMBASSY BELGRADE AMEMBASSY BERLIN AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST AMEMBASSY BUDAPEST AMEMBASSY SOFIA AMEMBASSY WARSAW USMISSION BERLIN AMEMBASSY MOSCOW C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 1 OF 2 PRAGUE 2873 LIMDIS E.O. 11652: GDS TAGS: CVIS, PINS, CZ SUBJECT: EMIGRATION FROM CZECHOSLOVAKIA REF: STATE 236660 A. CSSR EMIGRATION POLICY AND ATTITUDES 1. CZECHOSLOVAK REGULATIONS STATE THAT EXIT PERMITS MAY BE DENIED THOSE WHOSE DEPARTURE FROM CS CONFLICTS WITH MAIN- TENANCE OF STATE SECURITY, INTERNAL ORDER OR MORALS, OR WHO WISH JOIN THOSE CZECH CITIZENS RESIDING ABROAD WITHOUT PER- MISSION OF CZECH AUTHORITIES. EXIT PERMIT APPLICATIONS FOR BOTH TOURISTS AND EMIGRANTS MUST BE APPROVED BY POLICE, MILI- TARY (IF APPLICANT HAS NOT FULFILLED HIS MILITARY DUTY OR IS A RESERVIST UNDER AGE 50) AND APPLICANT'S EMPLOYER, SCHOOL (IF A STUDENT) OR LOCAL NATIONAL COMMITTEE (IF UNEMPLOYED OR CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 02 PRAGUE 02873 01 OF 02 201425Z RETIRED). IN DECIDING APPLICATIONS, EMIGRATION AUTHORITIES MAY REQUIRE APPROVALS FROM OTHER CSSR SOURCES, AS NECESSARY. 2. GOC REFUSES GREAT MAJORITY OF EMIGRATION APPLICATIONS AS "NOT IN THE INTERESTS OF THE STATE." CZECH OFFICIALS SAY LABOR SHORTAGE DOES NOT PERMIT POSSIBILITY OF FREE EMIGRATION. (WITH ONE OF LOWEST POST-WAR BIRTH RATES IN CENTRAL EUROPE, CZECHOSLOVAKIA SHARES WITH EAST GERMANY A SEVERE PROBLEM OF SHORT LABOR SUPPLY.) MOREOVER, CONCERNING GOVERNMENT ATTITUDES, AUTHORI- TIES ARE PARTICULARLY SENSITIVE TOWARD APPLICATIONS NOT INVOLV- ING THE JOINING OF NEXT OF KIN. EMIGRATION IN TERMS OF AN INDI- VIDUAL'S DESIRE SIMPLY TO GO WEST SEEMS TO BE CONSIDERED AS ADVERSE REFLECTION ON CZECHOSLOVAK POLITICAL SYSTEM AND, THERE- FORE, DISCOURAGED. 3. GENERALLY THERE ARE FOUR CATEGOREIS OF CZECH CITIZENS WHO MAY OBTAIN EMIGRATION PERMITS: (A) NEW SPOUSES OF FOREIGN CITIZENS, MARRIED IN CSSR. BRIDES, AT LEAST THOSE PROCEEDING TO US, EVENTUALLY OBTAIN PERMISSION, BUT MALES EMIGRATE WITH MORE DIFFICULTY BECAUSE MORE CLEARANCES ARE USUALLY REQUIRED. FIANCEES NORMALLY DO NOT RECEIVE PERMISSION TO EXIT CS TO MARRY ABROAD. (B) PENSIONERS WITH CHILDREN RESIDING LEGALLY IN WEST. MOST, HOWEVER, PREFER LONG-TERM TOURIST PERMIT TO EMIGRANT STATUS. (C) DISSIDENT INTELLECTUALS. A VERY FEW HAVE BEEN GIVEN LONG-TERM EXIT PERMITS WITH STRONG SUGGESTIONS THAT THEY REMAIN OUTSIDE OF CS INDEFINITELY. THE EMBASSY IS AWARE OF TWO SUCH CASES OCCURING TO DATE IN 1974. (D) DIVIDED FAMILY CASES. EXIT PERMITS OCCASION- ALLY GRANTED WHEN HIGH-LEVEL INTEREST EXPRESSED BY WEST- ERN GOVERNMENTS AND CSSR STANDS TO GAIN SOME POLITICAL RETURN. DEPARTMENT IS AWARE OF DIVIDIED FAMILY SITUATION AS PERTAINS TO LIST HANDED TO CZECHS IN JULY 1973 (SEE PRAGUE 2052 AND PREVIOUS); MOST OTHER WESTERN MISSIONS HAVE HAD LESS SUCCESS THAN WE. 4. MINORITY ETHNIC GROUPS. (A) THE ONLY SIZABLE MINORITY ETHNIC GROUP WITH MEMBERS WISHING TO EMIGRATE WEST CONSISTS OF LARGE NUMBER OF ETHNIC GERMANS, PERHAPS 100,000. WHILE MORE CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 03 PRAGUE 02873 01 OF 02 201425Z THAN 1,000 PERMITTED TO LEAVE IN 1971, LESS THAN 200 OBTAINED PERMISSION IN 1973. ABOUT 85 PERCENT OF ALL GERMAN EMIGRANTS ARE PENSIONERS AND OTHERS CONSIDERED ECONOMICALLY UNPRODUCTIVE. TALKS BETWEEN FRG AND GOC CONTINUE WITH NO CLEAR OUTCOME IN SIGHT. MAJORITY OF JEWS REMAINING IN CS AFTER WORLD WAR II DEPARTED IN LATE 1940'S AND LATE 1960'S. EMBASSY BELIEVES THAT LARGE PERCENTAGE OF PRESENT SMALL CZECH JEWISH COMMUNITY DO NOT WISH TO EMIGRATE. B. EVOLUTION OF VISA PRACTICES 5. CZECH POLICY ON EMIGRATION TO WEST HAS CHANGED LITTLE OVER PAST FIVE YEARS. EVEN IN 1968 AND 1969, ONLY THOSE EMIGRANTS MOVING TO JOIN FAMILY MEMBERS OBTAINED EMIGRATION PERMITS WITH RELATIVELY LITTLE DIFFICULTY. DURING THOSE TWO YEARS, HOWEVER, ALMOST ANYONE COULD OBTAIN EXIT PERMIT FOR TEMPORARY TRAVEL TO WEST. PROBABLY DUE TO SOVIET INVASION IN AUGUST 1968, MANY REMAINED THERE, WITH OVER 10,000 EVENTUALLY SETTLING IN US. HOWEVER, ONLY 350 IV'S WERE ISSUED BY EMBASSY PRAGUE DURING 1968-69. C. IV ISSUANCE AT EMBASSY PRAGUE 6. 1968--180 1969 -- 170 1970 -- 91 1971 -- 112 1972 -- 56 1973 -- 44 1974 (TO NOVEMBER 12) -- 44 NO APPLICANTS FORMALLY FOUND INELIGIGIBLE. EMBASSY HAS PENDING CASES INVOLVING 345 INDIVIDUALS, MANY BELONGING TO THE SAME FAMILIES. D. ESTIMATE OF SERIOUS APPLICATIONS IN ABSENCE OF RESTRICTIONS 7. ESTIMATE DIFFICULT TO PROVIDE INASMUCH AS CZECH POLICY ON EMIGRATION NO DOUBT DISCOURAGES MANY WOULD-BE EMIGRANTS FROM EVER APPRAOCHING EMBASSY. WITHOUT RESTRICTIONS, OVER 1,000 CZECHS AND SLOVAKS MIGHT APPLY IN PRAGUE FOR E 8;'S AS IMMEDIATE RELATIVES, RETURNING RESIDENTS, OR UNDER VISA PREFERENCE CATEGORIES. WE CANNOT ESTIMATE HOW MANY MIGHT APPLY FOR REFUGEE STATUS AT US MISSIONS IN WEST EUROPE, IF CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 04 PRAGUE 02873 01 OF 02 201425Z THEY WERE ABLE TO BOTAIN EXIT PERMITS FOR TEMPORARY TRAVEL. E. IV STATISTICS FROM OTHER WESTERN MISSIONS 8. 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 CASES (TO OCT.) PENDING FRANCE 6 23 20 31 21 28 FRG (1968-69 NO FRG 1046 1306 794 500 377 27,000 MISSION) ROUGHLY HALF OF ALL WEST GERMAN VISAS ARE ISSUED TO CZECH CITIZENS OF GERMAN NATIONALITY. NUMBER OF CASES PENDING GIVEN BY GERMAN EMBASSY IS NUMBER OF CASES REGIS- TERED WITH RED CROSS AS ACTIVELY DESIRING EMIGRATION. IV'S FOR CANADA AND AUSTRALIA ISSUED IN VIENNA WITH NO CONFIDENTIAL NNN CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 01 PRAGUE 02873 02 OF 02 201909Z 53 ACTION EUR-08 INFO OCT-01 SS-14 ISO-00 NSC-05 NSCE-00 SP-02 L-01 H-01 VO-01 SCA-01 INR-05 CIAE-00 PM-03 ORM-01 SR-02 RSC-01 /046 W --------------------- 046246 R 201143Z NOV 74 FM AMEMBASSY PRAGUE TO SECSTATE WASHDC 7282 INFO AMEMBASSY BELGRADE AMEMBASSY BERLIN AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST AMEMBASSY BUDAPEST AMEMBASSY SOFIA AMEMBASSY WARSAW USMISSION BERLIN AMEMBASSY MOSCOW C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 2 OF 2 PRAGUE 2873 LIMDIS STATICS KEPT IN PRAGUE. NO ISRAELI IV'S HAVE BEEN ISSUED AND THERE ARE NO PENDING CASES (ISRAEL IS REPRESENTED BY SWEDEN IN PRAGUE). OTHER WESTERN EMBAS- SIES IN PRAGUE DO NOT KEEP SEPARATE STATISTICS ON IV'S ISSUED, BUT SOME GAVE FOLLOWING ESTIMATES OF IV'S ISSUED ANNUALLY OVER PAST 5 YEARS. PENDING CASES, WHERE KNOWN, ARE SHOWN IN PARENTHESES: AUSTRIA -- 25 (15) BELGIUM -- 3 -- 5 DENMARK -- 1 NETHERLANDS -- 75 SWEDEN -- 10 (10) SWITZERLAND -- 40 (6) F. FEES 9. THE BASIC FEE FOR ISSUANCE OF AN EXIT PERMIT IS CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 02 PRAGUE 02873 02 OF 02 201909Z NOMINAL, FROM 20 TO 500 CZECH CROWNS. HOWEVER, IN CASES INVOLVING EMIGRATION, THE AUTHORITIES HAVE DISCRETION TO INCREASE THIS FEE BY A MULTIPLE OF UP TO 25 TIMES. BOTH THE STANDAND FEE FOR THE PERMIT AND THE MULTIPLE CHOSEN TO APPLY TO IS ARE BASED UPON THE LEVEL OF EDUCATION, AGE, PAST SERVICE TO THE STATE, AND THE DEGREE OF THE INDIVIDUAL'S RELATIONSHIP TO THE RELATIVES HE IS EMIGRATING TO JOIN. 10. COMMENT: ALL OF THE ABOVE INFORMATION, PARTICULARLY THE LAST PARAGRAPH, IS THE SITUATION AS WE UNDERSTAND IT TODAY. MANY OF THE CURRENT CZECHOSLOVAK POLICIES ARE SIMPLY COPIES OF THOSE LEARNED FROM OR DEMANDED BY THE SOVIET UNION. AS BIG BROTHER BENDS TO THE WINDS OF CHANGE SUCH AS THE DEMANDS OF THE US LEGISLATIVE BRANCH OR CSCE, SO WILL CZECHOSLOVAKIA. SHERER CONFIDENTIAL NNN

--- Capture Date: 01 JAN 1994 Channel Indicators: n/a Current Classification: UNCLASSIFIED Concepts: POLICIES, EMIGRANTS, CENTRAL GOVERNMENT, EXIT VISAS Control Number: n/a Copy: SINGLE Draft Date: 20 NOV 1974 Decaption Date: 28 MAY 2004 Decaption Note: 25 YEAR REVIEW Disposition Action: RELEASED Disposition Approved on Date: n/a Disposition Authority: golinofr Disposition Case Number: n/a Disposition Comment: 25 YEAR REVIEW Disposition Date: 28 MAY 2004 Disposition Event: n/a Disposition History: n/a Disposition Reason: n/a Disposition Remarks: n/a Document Number: 1974PRAGUE02873 Document Source: CORE Document Unique ID: '00' Drafter: n/a Enclosure: n/a Executive Order: GS Errors: N/A Film Number: D740336-0165 From: PRAGUE Handling Restrictions: n/a Image Path: n/a ISecure: '1' Legacy Key: link1974/newtext/t19741127/aaaaawtw.tel Line Count: '239' Locator: TEXT ON-LINE, ON MICROFILM Office: ACTION EUR Original Classification: CONFIDENTIAL Original Handling Restrictions: LIMDIS Original Previous Classification: n/a Original Previous Handling Restrictions: n/a Page Count: '5' Previous Channel Indicators: n/a Previous Classification: CONFIDENTIAL Previous Handling Restrictions: LIMDIS Reference: STATE 236660 Review Action: RELEASED, APPROVED Review Authority: golinofr Review Comment: n/a Review Content Flags: n/a Review Date: 29 MAR 2002 Review Event: n/a Review Exemptions: n/a Review History: RELEASED <29 MAR 2002 by worrelsw>; APPROVED <24 MAY 2002 by golinofr> Review Markings: ! 'n/a US Department of State EO Systematic Review 30 JUN 2005 ' Review Media Identifier: n/a Review Referrals: n/a Review Release Date: n/a Review Release Event: n/a Review Transfer Date: n/a Review Withdrawn Fields: n/a Secure: OPEN Status: NATIVE Subject: EMIGRATION FROM CZECHOSLOVAKIA TAGS: CVIS, PINS, CZ To: STATE Type: TE Markings: Declassified/Released US Department of State EO Systematic Review 30 JUN 2005