recognizing the deportation of the Crimean Tatars as genocide and establishing May 18th of each year in Canada as Crimean Tatar Deportation (“Sürgünlik”) Memorial Day, passes with unanimous consent
OTTAWA – Today, Yvan Baker, the Member of Parliament for Etobicoke Centre, received unanimous consent of the House of Commons for his motion seeking to recognize Stalin’s 1944 deportation of Crimean Tatars as genocide and to establish May 18th of each year in Canada as Crimean Tatar Deportation (“Sürgünlik”) Memorial Day.
“My sincere gratitude to MPs of all parties in the House of Commons for their unanimous support of my motion. The passage of this motion is an important step in honouring the victims of the Sürgünlik, but it is also important in raising awareness that the genocide that Russia is perpetrating in Ukraine today and that the persecution of Crimean Tatars that is happening as we speak, has happened in Ukraine before during both the Sürgünlik and the Holodomor." MP Baker said.
“This underlines how important it is that the world take the steps necessary to ensure that Ukraine wins this war with Russia and that all occupied territories including Crimea are once again part of the sovereign territory of Ukraine, so that Crimean Tatars and all Ukrainians can live in freedom in their homeland once again.” MP Baker added.
On May 18, 1944, in the early morning, soldiers of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs (NKVD, the former KGB) entered the houses of the Tatars, by force. They announced immediate deportation because of acts of "massive collaboration". Mainly, the Soviet government claimed that some Crimean Tatars allegedly collaborated with Nazi Germany to justify the ethnic cleansing.
There is clear and ample evidence that the deportation of the Crimean Tatars from their homeland was intended by the Soviet regime as a means of collective punishment and to destroy the Crimean Tatar people.
Today, the Crimean Tatars face renewed persecution, including forced disappearances, attacks on their freedom of religion, freedom of assembly and freedom of speech, and the dispossession of their property by the occupying authorities of the Russian Federation.
As such, on May 18, 2022, MP Yvan Baker asked the House of Commons to unanimously pass the following motion:
This House:
Recognizes that the mass deportation of the Crimean Tatars by the Soviet regime in 1944, known as the “Sürgünlik”, constituted a genocide against the Crimean Tatar people.
Designates May 18th of each year as Crimean Tatar Deportation (“Sürgünlik”) Memorial Day.
For more information contact: Daniel.Marino.427@parl.gc.ca
The full text of the motion is below:
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order.
There have been discussions among the parties. If you seek it, I believe that you will find unanimous consent for the following motion. I move:
That, given that:
On May 18, 1944, the Soviet Union, under the orders of Joseph Stalin, commenced the “Sürgünlik” – the mass deportation of the Crimean Tatar people from Crimea;
There is clear and ample evidence that the deportation of the Crimean Tatars from their homeland was intended by the Soviet regime as a means of collective punishment and to destroy the Crimean Tatar people.
The mass deportation led to:
Approximately 200,000 Crimean Tatars being deported from their homeland;
Thousands of Crimean Tatars dying during the deportation;
Tens of thousands of Crimean Tatars dying from starvation, disease, forced labour and continuous abuse by the Soviet regime;
All Crimean Tatars being deprived of their property, their freedom of religion, freedom of assembly and freedom of movement;
On November 12, 2015, the Parliament of Ukraine recognized the mass deportation of the Crimean Tatars by the Soviet regime in 1944 as genocide and designated May 18 as an official day of commemoration;
On March 18, 2014, the Russian Federation, annexed the Autonomous Republic of Crimea following a military invasion of Ukraine;
Since then, Crimean Tatars face renewed persecution, including the forced disappearances, attacks on their freedom of religion, freedom of assembly and freedom of speech, and their dispossession of private property by the occupying Russian Federation;
This House:
Recognizes that the mass deportation of the Crimean Tatars by the Soviet regime in 1944, known as the “Sürgünlik”, constituted a genocide against the Crimean Tatar people.
Designates May 18th of each year as Crimean Tatar Deportation (“Sürgünlik”) Memorial Day.
