The Crimean Tatar Resource Centre with the support of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom in Ukraine continues its Summer Freedom Camp. The participants were told about the indigenous peoples of Ukraine and their right to self-determination.
Liudmyla Korotkikh, a lawyer of the CTRC, familiarised everyone with the international movement of indigenous peoples. The expert told what indigenous peoples of the world have achieved and about international mechanisms for the protection of indigenous peoples’ rights.
First of all, Liudmyla explained to everyone the concept of ‘Indigenous Peoples’, pointing out the main attributes:
a) close connection with the ancestral territory and the natural resources of this territory;
b) realisation of being an indigenous people;
c) their own language;
d) the presence of customary social and political institutions;
e) traditional economic activities.
The lawyer noted that there are 476 million indigenous peoples in the world, living in 90 countries. They are carriers of 5,000 different cultures. In Ukraine there are 3 indigenous peoples: Crimean Tatars, Karaites and Krymchaks.
Eskender Bariiev, in turn, noted that the path to the recognition of Crimean Tatars, Karaites and Krymchaks as indigenous peoples of Ukraine was quite long. Only in 2021 the law ‘On Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine’ was adopted. And just an indicator of the effectiveness of this law was Putin’s hysterical reaction.
The Chairman of the Board of the CTRC turned his attention to the future of Crimea, in particular, to the question of the status of Crimea in the future. Eskender Bariiev spoke about the types of autonomy, explaining that there can be no autonomy on an administrative-territorial basis in a unitary state.
‘The team of the Crimean Tatar Resource Centre stresses the importance of creating exactly national-territorial autonomy. No, this is not some kind of advantage, but only a form of self-determination of the indigenous peoples of Ukraine. In fact, national-territorial autonomy is a legal mechanism to protect the integrity of Ukraine,’ he explained.
The participants of the Freedom Camp watched short videos of the CTRC about the indigenous peoples of Ukraine, ‘Witnesses of Deportation 1944’, as well as the documentary film ‘Crimean Askers’, which tells about the participation of representatives of the indigenous Crimean Tatar people in the Russian-Ukrainian war.
The Freedom Summer Camp is organised with the support of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom in Ukraine.