Deportation of the Crimean Tatars in 1944 and measures taken by the Government of Ukraine for the purpose of settlement and integration into Ukrainian society of the formerly deported Crimean Tatars

The state-organized and forcible deportation of Crimean Tatars from the CrimeanPeninsula by the Soviet Union in 1944 was ordered by J.Stalin as a form of collective punishment for alleged collaboration with the Nazi occupation regime in 1942-1943. The event is also known as Sürgünlik in the Crimean Tatar language (meaning "exile").

A total of almost 194,000 people were deported, mostly to Uzbekistan. This included the entire ethnic Crimean Tatar population, at that time - about a fifth of the total population of the CrimeanPeninsula, besides smaller number of ethnic Greeks and Bulgarians. A large number of deportees (more than 100,000 according to the 1960s census by Crimean Tatar activists) died from starvation or disease as a direct result of deportation.

In 1944, under the pretext of alleged collaboration of the Crimean Tatars with the Nazis during the Nazi occupation of Crimea in 1941–1944, the Soviet government evicted the Crimean Tatar people from Crimea on orders of J.Stalin and L.Beria. 

The deportation began on May 18, 1944 in all Crimean inhabited localities. More than 32,000 troops of the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) participated in this action. The forced deportees were given only 30 minutes to gather personal belongings, after which they were loaded onto cattle trains and moved out of Crimea. 193,865 Crimean Tatars were deported, 151,136 of them - to Uzbek SSR, 8,597 - to  Mari ASSR, 4,286 - to Kazakh SSR and 29,846 - to the various regions of the RSFSR. Most of the demobilized Crimean Tatar men were sent to forced labor camps in Siberia and to the Ural mountain region. The deportation was poorly planned and executed, local authorities in the destination areas were not properly informed about the scale of the matter and did not receive enough resources to accommodate the deportees. The lack of accommodation and food, as well as failure to adapt to new climatic conditions and the rapid spread of diseases had a heavy demographic impact during the first years of exile.

From May to November 1944 10,105 Crimean Tatars died of starvation in Uzbekistan (7% of those deported to Uzbek SSR). According to NKVD data, nearly 30,000 (20%) died in exile during the year and a half. Many Crimean Tatars were forced to work in large-scale projects conducted by the Soviet GULAG system.

Crimean Tatar activists tried to evaluate the demographic consequences of the deportation. In the middle of the 1960s they carried out a census in all the scattered Tatar communities. The results of this inquiry show that 109,956 (46.2%) Crimean Tatars of the 238,500 deportees died between July 1, 1944 and January 1, 1947 due to starvation and disease.

Although a 1967 Soviet decree removed the charges against Crimean Tatars, the Soviet government did nothing to facilitate their resettlement in Crimea and to make reparations for lost lives and confiscated property. Crimean Tatars, having definite tradition of non-communist political dissent, succeeded in creating a truly independent network of activists, values and political experience. Crimean Tatars, led by the Crimean Tatar National Movement Organization, were not allowed to return to Crimea from exile until the beginning of the  Perestroika in the mid-1980s. Crimean activists call for the recognition of the Sürgünlik as a genocide.

Ukraine since its independence has assumed full responsibility for the fate of all its citizens, including those returning from deportation to their territory.

In 1992-2013 the repatriation process in Ukraine of formerly deported on ethnic ground people was a part of the Agreement on matters related to the restoration of the rights of deported persons, minorities and people, which was approved in 1992 in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) by Member Countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (the so-called Bishkek Agreement) and was prolonged in 2003 in St. Petersburg for the next ten years.

The legal basis for the implementation of the state policy in the sphere of protection of the rights of formerly deported on ethnic ground persons who have returned to live permanently in Ukraine, is the Declaration of the Nationalities Rights of Ukraine and Laws of Ukraine "On the rehabilitation of victims of political repression in Ukraine", "On national minorities in Ukraine" and others.

Since 1991 the Government of Ukraine made great efforts to provide the necessary resources for resettlement and integration into Ukrainian society of the returnees who were deported on ethnic ground by Stalin’s regime.

In order to address issues of returnees’ integration on January 25, 2002 the Government of Ukraine approved the "Program to promote social adaptation of Crimean Tatar youth in 2002-2005" and on May 11, 2006 - the "Program of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on resettlement of deported Crimean Tatars and other nationalities, who returned to Ukraine for residence, their adaptation and integration into Ukrainian society for the period until 2010", which was extended to 2015 by the relevant Government’s Decree.

Prior to the occupation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in February and March 2014 Ukraine carried out extensive work aimed at meeting social and economic needs of Crimean Tatars and representatives of other nationalities who returned permanently to Crimea.

Since 1991, the State Budget of Ukraine has envisaged a separate line for resettlement of returnees. Budget funds are directed mainly for housing, utilities, social and cultural purposes. The total amount of expenditure from the State Budget of Ukraine for the resettlement of formerly deported on ethnic ground citizens amounted to more than 1 270 million Ukrainian hryvnias (UHR) (more than 100 million of U.S. dollars) by the end of 2013.

The facts set forth below clearly demonstrate effectiveness of measures taken by the Government of Ukraine to ensure the repatriation process and the integration of formerly deported Crimean Tatars:

1. Stalin regime deported from Crimea almost 200 thousand ethnic Crimean Tatars. At the beginning of 2013 about 266 thousand ethnic Crimean Tatars permanently resided in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (ARC), Ukraine.

2. According to the results of the local elections in 2010, the share of Crimean Tatars in the self-government bodies was 16 %, while the share of Crimean Tatars in Crimea overall ethnic composition was 13,7 %.

In 2013 Crimean Tatars held 8 executive positions in the Council of Ministers of Crimea. There were more than 1 800 civil service employees, including local government officials, which represented deported nationalities (6.4% of the total amount).

3. According to the National Committee for Crimea Land Resources at the end of 2012 the share of lands allocated to the Crimean Tatars for housing (over 85 thousand plots of approximately 11 hectares) of total land allocated for this category to Crimean population as a whole was 17.1 %.

4. In 2013/2014 academic year there were 15 secondary schools (3092 students) in the ARC with the Crimean Tatar language of education. 

Crimean Tatar language and literature teacher training was provided by the Republican "Crimean Engineering and PedagogicalUniversity" and by the philology department of the TaurideNationalUniversity.

The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine drafted and published curricula of the Crimean Tatar language for grades 1-4 and 5-9 as well as textbooks in Crimean Tatar language. Crimean Tatar-Ukrainian school terminological dictionary and teaching material for young children "Tales of a large family" in the Crimean Tatar language were also published.

In 2001-2013 103,207 copies of textbooks for secondary schools with education provided in Crimean Tatar language, about 30 Crimean Tatar language and literature teaching materials for primary, secondary and higher education establishments were published. The ARC budget financed publication of 63 types of teaching and supportive educational materials and 60 pieces of literature in the amount of 3,748 million UHR.

5. During 12 years the number of religious buildings and premises for Muslims has increased from 146 in 2000 to 324 in 2012.

The Government of Ukraine, being well aware of the complexity of the integration of returnees into Ukrainian society, stands ready to ensure further meeting needs of Crimean Tatars and settling outstanding issues through constructive dialogue.

6. In 2013 newspapers "Khyrym", "Maarif yshleri" and magazines "Tasyl" and "Kasevet" were published in the Crimean Tatar language to ensure that the information needs of the Crimeans are met. 7 % of the State company "Krym"`s broadcasting time was given to the Tatar broadcasting company "Meydan".

7. On March 20, 2014 the Ukrainian Parliament adopted a resolution recognizing the Crimean Tatars as an indigenous people.

8. Until March 2014 dozens of monuments of the Crimean Tatar people remained  under the state protection.