European Commission: Crimean Tatars suffer oppression and persecutions on occupied peninsula

"This is, indeed, a very sad anniversary of the deportation of Crimean Tatars, which began 76 years ago, in a very tragic period of history. Unfortunately, Crimean Tatars still suffer oppression and persecutions. Since the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia, the rights of Crimean Tatars have been grossly violated by closing media outlets, banning the self-government body, the Mejlis, and persecuting its leaders and members of the community,” EU’s Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Peter Stano said at a briefing on Monday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

He noted that the human rights situation in Crimea had deteriorated significantly since Russia's illegal annexation of the peninsula.

"In our opinion, it is very important that regional and international human rights monitoring mechanisms, as well as non-governmental organizations in this area, have unimpeded access to Crimea and Sevastopol in full compliance with UN General Assembly resolutions of December last year," he added.

On May 18, Ukraine honors the victims of deportation of the Crimean Tatar people and marks the Day of Struggle for the Rights of the Crimean Tatar People.

The deportation of the Crimean Tatars began at 03:00 on May 18, 1944 and lasted until the beginning of June.

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