Today, Helsinki Commission Chairman Rep. Joe Wilson (SC-02) and Ranking Member Rep. Steve Cohen (TN-09) made the following statement:
“We unequivocally condemn the brutal deportation of Crimean Tatars orchestrated by the Soviet regime in 1944. This horrific act, which forcibly uprooted an entire population from their homeland, represents a grave violation of human rights, dignity, an ethnic cleansing and a cultural genocide. Today, the government of the dictator Vladimir Putin is trying to complete what Stalin had started to do – the occupying Russian forces are systematically harassing, arresting, and imprisoning Crimean Tatars. The Kremlin must stop this immediately and release all Crimean Tatars, as well as other residents of the occupied Crimea it has imprisoned as part of its political persecution campaign. We stand in solidarity with the Crimean Tatars and firmly believe that they will once again return in full force to their ancestral homelands and help rebuild a free, strong and sovereign Ukraine.”
In May of 1944, the Soviet government under Stalin ordered the mass deportation of Crimean Tatars from their homeland in Crimea to Central Asia. This tragic event was a brutal act of ethnic cleansing, resulting in the forced relocation of nearly 200,000 people over a few days. Families were uprooted from their homes, subjected to inhumane conditions during transit, and forced into exile in unfamiliar territories. While estimates vary, up to half of the deported perished during or in the aftermath of the deportation. It had devastating consequences, leading to immense suffering, loss of lives, and a rupture of cultural and social ties that would reverberate for generations to come.
