01 July 2024

July 1 Is the Third Anniversary of the Adoption of the Law on Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine

This law was enacted on July 1, 2021, with the objective of safeguarding the rights of indigenous peoples and establishing special mechanisms for their collaboration with the state.

The new legislation came into force on July 23, 2021, on the eve of the Inaugural Summit of the Crimea Platform. In addition to safeguarding the cultural, informational, and other rights of indigenous peoples, this document has become a robust foundation for reinforcing the position of the Ukrainian state and facilitating the de-occupation of the peninsula.

As stated in the law, “The indigenous people of Ukraine is an autochthonous ethnic community that formed on the territory of Ukraine, is a carrier of original language and culture, has traditional, social, cultural or representative bodies, sees itself as an indigenous people of Ukraine, is an ethnic minority in its population and does not have its own state formation outside Ukraine.”

The indigenous peoples of our country are the Crimean Tatars, Karaites, and Krymchaks. It is important to note that the concepts of indigenous peoples and national minorities should not be confused. While both groups face challenges, indigenous peoples are defined by their connection to a specific territory, whereas national minorities have ethnically related states outside their countries of residence. The international community defines indigenous peoples as those who live in multi-ethnic societies of independent countries and are descendants of the original inhabitants of these territories at the time of the conquest, colonization, or the establishment of the current borders.

According to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of 2007, no military activity may be carried out on the territory of indigenous peoples without their consent or request, and Article 7 states that “Indigenous peoples have the collective right to live in freedom, peace, and security as distinct peoples and shall not be subjected to any act of genocide or violence.”

Since the annexation of the Crimean Khanate by the Russian Empire in 1783, the policy of assimilation of indigenous peoples has been implemented. During the Nazi occupation of Crimea, the Germans committed genocide against the Crimean Tatars. In 1944, the Soviet authorities carried out a mass deportation of Crimean Tatars from their homeland. Today, on the territory of the temporarily occupied Crimea, indigenous peoples have been facing discrimination by the occupation authorities since 2014.

Only the de-occupation and reintegration of Crimea will allow for the protection of indigenous peoples under international and national law.