Exiled Crimeans
"Everywhere in the district where we lived, they stuck up leaflets with his face, calling him a bloodthirsty traitor and a fascist, and all kinds of other things."
Lyudmila Schekun
"They thought we wanted to derail their referendum. They thought we were some kind of terrorist group or something."
"They need our moral support [Ukrainians still living in Crimea]. They need to hear us say 'We haven't betrayed you, we haven't abandoned you'."
Andrei Schekun, former Crimea resident
Ethnic Ukrainians comprise one-quarter of Crimea's population, according to the most recent census back in 2001. The Ukrainians who left Crimea, estimated to be about 20,000 people, to migrate to the mainland after Russia's annexation of the peninsula, speak heavily of their loss of homeland. Now at a distance from Crimea they feel guilt at having abandoned those Ukrainians who are left. And express disappointment with the Kyiv government's resignation over its loss of Crimea.
"People are afraid to express their opinion", said Valeriya Lutkovskaya, speaking at a United Nations conference in Geneva as the human rights envoy for Ukraine's parliament, describing Crimea as a "peninsula of terror". "They feel fear for their life and future, fear to espouse their faith and speak in their native language."
"Unfortunately", stated Eskender Bariyev, a Mejlis member, a self-governing body of Crimean Tatars, "there is at the moment no single government executive body that deals with Crimean matters". In view of this lack of government initiative, Andrei Schekun feels that activists like him have an obligation to continue to encourage hope among the Ukrainians still living in Crimea.
He describes his experience when he was taken into custody of the police comprised of a self-described militia as he awaited delivery of Ukrainian flags and symbols in the Crimean capital of Simferopol at the train station. That was a year ago. A week before the planned referendum for secession from Ukraine, to rush Crimea into the waiting arms of Moscow. He was locked into a dark room.
And for the eleven days that followed he was beaten, shocked with electrodes and scalded with hot metallic plates. His campaign to persuade his fellow Crimeans to reject absorption by Russia marked him as a criminal. Now, far from Crimea, living in Shchaslyve, Ukraine outside Kyiv with his wife and their three sons, he continues his crusade for Ukrainian unity.
At the time of the referendum, Russian state television fed a steady diet of unrest occurring against then-Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, and the danger expressed in Ukrainian nationalists' intentions of oppressing ethnic Russians in Crimea. The urgent dangers presented to the safety and security of Russian speakers. Fascist, violent Ukrainians were preparing to march to Crimea and violently rescind any civil rights left to ethnic Russians.
It was at that point in history that Andrei Schekun's energies in encouraging support for the anti-government protests that led to Mr. Yanukovych fleeing, made him a suspect, and flyers were found in the courtyard outside his home in the town of Bakhchysarai, claiming him to be a traitor to Crimea.
The Tatar minority of Crimea's leadership resisted Russian annexation. It has since been subjected to intimidation ranging from petty harassment by officials, to violence expressed in beatings, kidnappings and outright murder. Square all of this against the recent polls that resulted in a majority approval expressed by Crimeans in their 'Russian' status.
Labels: Aggression, Crimea, Russia, Secession, Ukraine
posted by Pieface @ Thursday, March 19, 2015
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