Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine urges global recognition of genocide against Crimean Tatar people

This was reported by Radio Svoboda.

"Ukraine has officially recognized the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people in May 1944 as an act of genocide. The country expresses gratitude to Canada, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands for adopting similar declarations, which restore historical justice and honor the memory of the victims of this atrocity. Ukraine calls on other nations to join in the international recognition of the genocide against the Crimean Tatar people," reads the statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The MFA highlights that since the beginning of Russia's occupation of Crimea in 2014, the occupying authorities have continued to discredit and oppress the Crimean Tatar community.

"The banning of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, the fabrication of criminal cases, forced passportization, pressure on religious communities, and the creation of intolerable living conditions — all of these actions represent modern forms of Russia's forced displacement of Ukraine's indigenous population from their homeland. Such conduct is a gross violation of international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and the legal obligations of an occupying state," emphasize Ukrainian diplomats.

The MFA also urges the international community to increase unified political, diplomatic, sanctions, and legal pressure on Russia with the objective of ending human rights violations in the temporarily occupied Crimea and restoring Ukraine's territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders.

Furthermore, the Ukrainian Ministry demands that the Russian Federation immediately cease all forms of repression against the Crimean Tatars, lift the unlawful ban on the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, release all political prisoners, and adhere to its international obligations as an occupying power.

On May 18, 1944, the Soviet regime began the mass deportation of the entire Crimean Tatar population from Crimea to Central Asia. Over the course of three days, approximately 200,000 Crimean Tatars were forcibly transported in numerous railway cars.