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Netherlands Recognizes Crimean Tatar Deportation as Genocide, Citing Russia’s Ongoing Repression
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The Netherlands’ House of Representatives has officially recognized the forced deportation of the Crimean Tatar people in 1944 as genocide. The decision was adopted on June 18.
The information was published on the Dutch Parliament’s official website on June 19.
The document states that since the Russian occupation of Crimea in 2014, “many Crimean Tatars have been unjustly imprisoned, subjected to torture by Russia, or have disappeared without a trace.” Thus, “Russia has most likely continued its policy of genocide against the Crimean Tatars,” the motion says.
“This is a powerful gesture of solidarity with the Crimean Tatar people, who are still facing persecution under Russia’s temporarily occupation of the Ukrainian Crimea peninsula. Recognizing this historical injustice is critical not only for establishing truth and justice, but also for preventing future atrocities,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X.
Refat Chubarov, head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, also thanked Dutch lawmakers for their decision.
“The Netherlands has become the eighth country whose parliament has recognized the forced deportation of the Crimean Tatars as genocide. We are grateful to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, which every year adopts special appeals urging other countries’ parliaments and governments to recognize the deportation as genocide. We also thank the leadership and staff of Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their dedicated efforts,” Chubarov posted on Facebook.
On November 12, 2015, Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada officially recognized the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people as genocide and designated May 18 as the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Crimean Tatar Genocide.
Previously, the parliaments of Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Canada, Poland, Estonia, and Czechia have also recognized the 1944 deportation as genocide.
