“The Law of Ukraine ‘On Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine’ should become an effective tool, not just a declaration”, — Eskender Bariiev

Today, August 11, Eskender Bariiev, Chairman of the Board of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center and member of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, commented on important tools for implementing this law during a press conference on International Day of Indigenous Peoples, entitled “Ukraine’s Law on Indigenous Peoples: A Guarantee for the Realization of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Ukraine.”

“We need to continue working to ensure that we really have the opportunity to influence processes more. The first aspect is the Ukrainian aspect, when we talk about ensuring that this law is not a declaration or remains a declaration, but is an effective tool for the realization of the rights of indigenous peoples, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, for greater awareness of Ukrainian society. When the law “On Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine” was adopted, Ukrainian society really began to understand the issue of who indigenous peoples are, and this is the first step towards us being able to do everything we can to strengthen our Ukrainian political nation,”– said Eskender Bariiev.

He separately emphasized the importance of working together with the Ukrainian authorities.

“I believe it is very important for us to join forces and, together with the Office of the President of Ukraine, the Mission of the President in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, and the SSEFC, we will work out our next steps—what needs to be done to make this law truly effective,” – emphasized the Chairman of the Board of the CTRC.

Bariiev drew attention to the international dimension of the law’s implementation:

“As for the international aspect, I would like to point out that Ukraine’s image in relation to the indigenous peoples of Ukraine depends on how the law ”On the Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine“ is implemented. It depends on how the indigenous peoples of the world will treat Ukraine”.