The Statement of the Presidium of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People on the occasion of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples

The Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People was a direct participant in the long and complex process of drafting, discussing and approving the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2007.

The Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People has been a participant in the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues since its establishment in 2002.

Thanks to the efforts of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, with the support of the national democratic forces of Ukrainian society, since 2014 Ukraine has radically revised the principles of State policy in relation to indigenous peoples, as evidenced by the resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of 20 March 2014 ‘On the Statement of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine regarding guarantees of the rights of the Crimean Tatar people within the Ukrainian State’, which for the first time in the history of independent Ukraine recognises the Crimean Tatar people as the indigenous people of Ukraine and grants them the right to be free from discrimination.

On 1 July 2021, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the Law of Ukraine ‘On the Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine’, initiated by the President of Ukraine.

This law, incorporating the fundamental norms of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, provides mechanisms to consolidate the legal status of representative bodies of indigenous peoples and lays the foundation for further development and improvement of national legislation in the area of collective rights of indigenous peoples of Ukraine.

The Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People will continue its efforts to consolidate Ukrainian society and Ukraine’s international partners for the deoccupation of Crimea and its further development as an integral part of the Ukrainian State and the historical homeland of the indigenous Crimean Tatar people.

On this path, the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People will continue to proceed from the premise that the realisation by the Crimean Tatar people of their right to self-determination within the independent Ukrainian State and the granting of the status of national-territorial autonomy to Crimea is the only condition that will ensure the successful political, economic, social and cultural development of the Crimean Tatar people in accordance with their views and values.

On the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples  the  the Presidium of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People appeals to the President of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine with an appeal to the President of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, together with the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, to facilitate the development and adoption of the following normative legal acts aimed at ensuring the rights of the Crimean Tatar, Karaite and Krymchak peoples within the independent Ukrainian State.