In 1944, Crimean Tatars were deported from the Crimean Peninsula as a result of a state-organized and forcible action, ordered by Soviet leader J.Stalin. Deportation began on 18 May 1944 in all Crimean inhabited localities.
A total of 238,500 Crimean Tatars were deported.

Since proclamation of Ukraine’s independence in 1991, the Government of Ukraine made efforts to provide Crimean Tatars with necessary resources for their resettlement and integration into the Ukrainian society. Almost 270, 000 Crimean Tatars are settled in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

2014 Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea lead to significant deterioration of human rights and freedoms. Crimean Tatars now are facing similar repressions and political prosecutions as in the 1944 deportation.

Crimean Tatars’ deportation in 1944
The deportation was a form of collective punishment for alleged Crimean Tatars’ collaboration with the Nazis during 1942-1943 and is known as Sürgünlik in Crimean Tatar (meaning “exile”). More than 230,000 people were deported, mostly to Uzbekistan. The lack of accommodation and food, failure to adapt to new climatic conditions and the rapid spread of diseases had a heavy demographic impact during the first years of Crimean Tatars’ exile. As Soviet dissident information says, many Crimean Tatars were forced to work in the large-scale projects implemented by the Soviet GULAG system.

Crimean Tatars’ resettlement in 1960s
Although in 1967 a Soviet decree withdrew the charges against Crimean Tatars, the Soviet government did nothing to facilitate their resettlement in Crimea and to make reparations for the lost lives and confiscated property. Crimean Tatars, led by Crimean Tatar National Movement Organization, were not allowed to return to Crimea from exile until the beginning of the Perestroika in the mid-1980s. Return of Crimean Tatars to the Crimea became widespread since 1987. In early 1990 the Crimean Tatars were the third largest ethnic group in Crimea.

Ukraine’s independence in 1991
Since Ukraine’s 1991 independence, the Government of Ukraine assumed full responsibility for the fate of all its citizens, including those returning to its territory after deportation. Declaration of Rights of Nationalities of Ukraine, Laws of Ukraine “On Minorities in Ukraine”, “On Restoration of Rights of Persons Deported on Ethnic Grounds” are among topical legal grounds of Ukraine’s state policy in the sphere of protecting rights of formerly deported people.

Russia’s annexation of Crimea
In February-March 2014, Russia’s illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula lead to significant violations of international law and human rights sphere. Crimean Tatars became targets for enforced disappearances and abductions by Russian occupation authorities and their illegal gangs.
Irrespective of Russia’s actions “on the ground” in Crimea, Ukraine remains committed to protecting rights of Crimean Tatars and establishing necessary and secure environment for their free development.

Ukraine calls on the international community to condemn Russia’s illegal actions towards Crimean Tatars, Ukrainians and human rights defenders. We call on world democracies to urge the Russian Federation let international organizations and human rights missions in Crimea do their job.