The Russian occupation authorities in Crimea have set themselves the goal of completely displacing the indigenous Crimean Tatar people outside the temporarily occupied peninsula, head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Refat Chubarov said during his speech at the virtual meeting of the 20th session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues on April 23.
“The Russian occupation of Crimea has caused catastrophic consequences for the unique territory of the Crimean peninsula and a threat to the future of its indigenous peoples – the Crimean Tatar, Crimean Karaites and Krymchaks. The Russian Federation aims to completely displace the indigenous Crimean Tatar people from the occupied Crimea,” Chubarov said. The text of the speech is posted on his Facebook page.
He said that the ban by the Russian Federation of the activities of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people is “an attempt to intimidate and disorient the Crimean Tatars in the face of constant repressions and persecutions carried out by the Russian invaders against the indigenous people of Crimea.”
“Moscow is not fulfilling the order of the International Court of Justice of the United Nations dated April 19, 2017, obliging the Russian Federation to immediately cancel the decision to ban the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people,” Chubarov said.
He said that the achievements of the past two decades, including the formation of the Permanent Forum and the establishment of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur, cannot and should not be in jeopardy.
“We call on the UN to find effective mechanisms to curb any aggressor state. Moreover, if such an aggressor is a permanent member of the Security Council, which in our case is the Russian Federation. We call on the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples to pay special attention to the situation of indigenous peoples, whose territories were occupied as a result of interstate conflicts,” Chubarov said.
