No one should ever be allowed to violate the rights of Indigenous peoples

Refat Chubarov, Head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, has just addressed the UN headquarters in New York at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues session on April 24, 2025. 

In his speech, the Head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people reiterated that Crimea is the land of the indigenous Crimean Tatar people, their homeland, and an integral part of the Ukrainian state. Refat Chubarov also accused Moscow of forcing representatives of Russia’s Indigenous peoples to fight against Ukraine.

ZMINA publishes his speech.

Dear brothers and sisters,

Distinguished representatives of the UN member states,

The close interconnectedness, and therefore the interdependence, between countries and their peoples obliges us to act together to achieve sustainable development goals.

It is obvious that efforts aimed at sustainable development goals at the national level require a special activation of global partnership activities.

Read also: “Not alone”: indigenous peoples unite in struggle against global conflicts – Binalakshmi Nepram

In this regard, we must discuss the political and military factors that hinder global partnerships for sustainable development.

Today, in Kyiv, the capital of my country, Ukraine, a day of mourning has been declared for the victims of the massive Russian missile attack on the night of April 24, which injured nearly 90 people, 12 of whom died. Among the injured were six children and a pregnant woman.

Aggression and wars of conquest are always criminal, but Moscow’s actions to force representatives of Russia’s indigenous peoples to participate in a criminal war against Ukraine are doubly criminal.

In the world, each of the indigenous peoples has its own glorious, often tragic history. But they all try to defend their home when armed bandits break into it.

Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars are also defending their home, their state, from armed bandits who broke in at Putin‘s order onto Ukrainian lands. In this regard, I urge the Forum to pay attention to the repression and persecution of the Crimean Tatar people – the indigenous people of Ukraine, whose Mother Earth – Crimea – has been occupied by the Russian Federation for eleven years.

No one, ever, should be allowed to trample on the rights of indigenous peoples, including the right to their land.

Therefore, allow me, against the backdrop of certain proposals regarding Crimea, to state the following:

Crimea is the land of the indigenous Crimean Tatar people; it is their homeland, and at the same time, an integral part of the Ukrainian state. And the fate of Crimea will be decided only by the Ukrainian state and the indigenous Crimean Tatar people.”

I urge the leaders of indigenous peoples to be even stronger and more determined in order to stop wars of conquest on Earth for the sake of achieving sustainable development goals.

Thank you for your attention.