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The Lower House of the Dutch Parliament has officially recognised the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people by the Soviet regime in 1944 as an act of genocide. This was reported by the Lower House of Parliament.
“The House of Representatives… declares its position that the mass deportation of Crimean Tatars in 1944 should be recognised and condemned as genocide by modern criteria,” the document says.
The deportation of Crimean Tatars has already been recognised as genocide by the parliaments of the Baltic States, Canada, Poland, the Czech Republic and a number of other countries. The Netherlands became the eighth country to make such a decision.
The document notes that after the occupation of Crimea by Russia in 2014, Crimean Tatars again experienced a wave of persecution: numerous cases of illegal arrests, torture and disappearances.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga called the decision of the Dutch parliamentarians “a powerful gesture of solidarity with the Crimean Tatar people”, who continue to suffer from Russian repression. According to him, the recognition of this historical injustice is “a decisive step to establish the truth and prevent future crimes”.
Refat Chubarov, Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, thanked the Netherlands for this decision and stressed the importance of support from the international community.
“We are grateful to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, which annually adopts special appeals to the parliaments of the world calling for the recognition of deportation as genocide. We are grateful to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine for its tireless diplomatic work,” Chubarov said.
