The Occupation of Crimea Has Created an Existential Threat to Ukraine’s Indigenous Peoples – The Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People – Center for Investigative Journalism

The illegal occupation of Crimea by Russia, which has lasted for 12 years, has created a direct existential threat to the Crimean Tatar, Karachay, and Krymchak peoples — the indigenous peoples of Ukraine, whose only historic homeland is the Crimean Peninsula, an integral part of the sovereign territory of the Ukrainian state. Therefore, a full de-occupation of Crimea and a restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders are the fundamental prerequisites for the preservation and future of Ukraine’s indigenous peoples.

This is stated in the statement of the Presidium of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People on the occasion of the International Day of the Indigenous Peoples, which is celebrated worldwide in August 9.

“The ongoing 12 years of aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine and the temporary occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol have created a direct existential threat to the Crimean Tatar, Karachay, and Krymchak peoples — the indigenous peoples of Ukraine, whose only historic homeland is Crimea as an inseparable part of the sovereign territory of the Ukrainian state,” the document states.

As noted by the Mejlis, for the Crimean Tatar people the current Russian occupation is a continuation of Russia’s centuries-long policy of aggression. The process of full restoration of the rights of the Crimean Tatar people, which began with their return to their native land thanks to decades of nonviolent national movement, was interrupted by a new phase of Russian armed aggression. In February 2014 Russia occupied Crimea, starting a new stage of repressions against the Crimean Tatar people.

It is noted that today in Crimea there continues to operate a ban on the activity of the Mejlis, politically motivated persecutions and imprisonment, systematic searches, forcible disappearances, pressure on activists, journalists, religious communities and independent media, as well as conscription into the ranks of the Russian Armed Forces.

“The Russian Federation, grossly violating international law, knowingly changes the demographic, ethnic, and cultural composition of Crimea. Mass artificial settlement of the peninsula by Russian citizens, Russification and the total displacement of Crimean Tatar and Ukrainian languages, appropriation and distortion of objects of cultural heritage, illegal alienation of lands and natural resources, militarization of society and the forcible embedding of the Russian imperial ideology constitute a direct manifestation of modern colonial expansion. The direct threat to life, repressive pressure, and forced conscription of men into the occupation army again compel thousands of Crimean Tatars to leave their homeland,” the statement says.

Under these circumstances, preserving the language, culture, historical memory, human potential, national institutions, and political agency of the Crimean Tatar people is no longer only a matter of protecting human rights but a matter of physical and national survival of the indigenous people. The Mejlis emphasizes that a full de-occupation of Crimea and restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders are the fundamental prerequisites for the preservation and future of Ukraine’s indigenous peoples.

On the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, the Presidium of the Mejlis calls on:

governments and international organizations to ensure proper documentation of Russia’s crimes in occupied Crimea, to resist attempts to change its demographic and cultural structure, to demand the immediate release of all civilian hostages and political prisoners, to help preserve the linguistic and cultural distinctiveness of the indigenous peoples, and to provide comprehensive military, political, and economic support to Ukraine for the fastest possible de-occupation of Crimea and restoration of the rights of the Crimean Tatar people;

the bodies of state power of Ukraine to ensure full implementation of the Law of Ukraine “On Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine,” real participation of their representative bodies in shaping state policy, and the integration of tasks for the restoration of the rights of indigenous peoples into the state Strategy for the De-occupation and Reintegration of Crimea;

the Government of Ukraine to implement a systemic state policy to preserve the human potential of Ukraine’s indigenous peoples under occupation, providing stable support to their educational and linguistic sphere, culture, media, representative institutions, and civil society institutions;

civil society of Ukraine to maintain solidarity with Ukraine’s indigenous peoples and support their efforts aimed at preserving their own distinctiveness and developing on their historic land.

To remind:

1 July 2021, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a law on Ukraine’s indigenous peoples, initiated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The document states that there are three indigenous peoples in Ukraine — Crimean Tatars, Karaites, and Krymchaks. Accordingly, each indigenous people has the right to a representative body created by the indigenous peoples and, in accordance with the Constitution and laws of Ukraine, endowed with the right to represent the indigenous peoples and to make decisions on their behalf. 23 July the law came into force.