According to The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Jewish autonomous oblast, also called Yevreyskaya (sometimes spelled Evreiskaia) autonomous oblast or Birobidzhan, is an administrative region occupying an area of 36,000 sq km in the Khabarovsk territory, in the far eastern part of the former Soviet Union (1989, 841). The oblast was created in 1934 to accomodate Jews in the Soviet Union but attracted mostly Russian and Ukranian settlers (ibid.). By 1991, the Jewish population of 9,000 made up only four per cent of the oblast's total population of 200,000 (The Associated Press 10 Dec. 1991). The same year, the region declared itself a sovereign republic of the Russian Federation (Russian Press Digest 26 Oct. 1991). According to TASS, 4,000 people have left the Jewish autonomous region for Israel since 1989 (13 May 1993). For further information on the Jewish autonomous oblast, please refer to the attached documentation.

This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

The Associated Press (AP). 10 December 1991. PM Cycle. "Exodus to Israel Sounds Death Knell of Jewish Homeland." (NEXIS)

The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. 1989. 15th ed. Vol. 12. Edited by Philip W. Goetz. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc.

Russian Press Digest. 26 October 1991. V. Ivashchewnko. "A Jewish Republic Emerges, but Without Jews." (NEXIS).

The Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (TASS). 13 May 1993. Victor Gorelov. "Trip to Israel Free of Charge from Jewish Autonomous Region." (NEXIS)

The Associated Press (AP). 10 December 1991. PM Cycle. "Exodus to Israel Sounds Death Knell of Jewish Homeland." (NEXIS)

Chicago Tribune. 30 August 1992. Final Edition. Merrill Goozner. "Jewish Culture Rises from Ruin of Stalin Experiment." (NEXIS)

Los Angeles Times. 29 September 1992. Home Edition. Stephanie Simon. "Culture; Russia's Jewish Homeland Possesses Soviet Soul; Dreams of Religious Freedom Were Crushed Long Ago. Today, Few Authentic Jewish Traditions Remain." (NEXIS)

The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. 1989. 15th ed. Vol. 12. Edited by Philip W. Goetz. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc., p. 841.

Reuters. 20 September 1993. BC Cycle. David Ljunggren. "Final Curtain Falling on World's First Jewish Homeland." (NEXIS)

Russian Press Digest. 26 October 1991. V. Ivashchewnko. "A Jewish Republic Emerges, but Without Jews." (NEXIS).

The Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (TASS). 13 May 1993. Victor Gorelov. "Trip to Israel Free of Charge from Jewish Autonomous Region." (NEXIS)
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. 21 July 1992. Reinhard Krumm. "Birobidzhan Remains as Jewish as Autonomous." (NEXIS)