Squatting in Crimea
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Total:
11 July 1989 – present (36 years, 9 months and 10 days) - First major phase:
11 July 1989 – 6 October 1992 (3 years, 2 months and 25 days) - Second phase:
28 March 2006 – present (20 years and 24 days)
- Deportation of the Crimean Tatars
- Soviet, Ukrainian, and Russian failure to support Crimean Tatar repatriation
- Slavic settlement in Crimea
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.jpg) A squatter's dwelling outside Simferopol | ||||
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| Methods | Squatting | |||
| Status | Ongoing | |||
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Squatting in Crimea (Ukrainian: Самозахват, lit. 'Self-occupation' or 'squatting') refers to the illegal occupation of land in Crimea; in the Ukrainian media, squatting is primarily discussed in regards to Crimean Tatar returnees, though most squatters are Slavs. The process, which began in the late 1980s following exiled Crimean Tatars being granted the right to return to the Crimean peninsula, has been caused by the inability of the Ukrainian and Russian governments to efficiently give land grants to Crimean Tatars. As a result of the slow process, many Crimean Tatars have turned to erecting impromptu structures on undeveloped land.
Squatting is a controversial issue in Crimea. It has led to violence by Russian nationalists against Crimean Tatars and has been used as justification for anti-Crimean Tatar positions. Since the Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, the Russian government has claimed to have solved the issue, though squatting remains a significant issue.
In 1944, the entire Crimean Tatar population was deported from the Crimean Peninsula and sent into exile in Central Asia, primarily Uzbekistan.[1][2] During their exile, the Crimean peninsula was colonised by Russian and Ukrainian settlers.[citation needed]
When the return of the Crimean Tatars began in 1989, there was no real support for such an undertaking from the Soviet government. A proposed government programme to organise and facilitate the return of Crimean Tatars never came to fruition due to the collapse of the Soviet Union. There was no housing supplied nor available to the returnees.[3] The problem of housing led to a split between two groups; on one hand was the NDKT, led by Yuri Osmanov, called for patience and support for Soviet measures. Running counter to the NDKT was the OKND, led by Dzhemilev, which criticised the slow pace of government repatriation and called for returnees to resettle land on their own initiative.[4] Dzhemilev said of Soviet repatriation efforts, "The USSR was able to evict the entire people in one night, and is it going to return them in 20 years?"[3]
The development of a government repatriation programme seemed positive for the NDKT. However, this repatriation programme soon revealed itself to be hollow; the areas of the peninsula historically most inhabited by Crimean Tatars, including major cities and the Southern Coast, were declared off-limits to returnees. Government officials threatened those seeking to sell their homes to Crimean Tatars with deportation from Crimea. In spite of this opposition, a tent camp was established on the Southern Coast in the village of Zaprudne (Crimean Tatar: Degirmenköy) in autumn 1989. Despite early cooperation with the Soviet government, things soon turned sour; on 14 December 1989, the encampment was stormed by the militsiya, soldiers, and local settlers, who attacked the Crimean Tatars. Six of the victims were imprisoned for four months on charges of hooliganism before being released in the face of widespread outcry. The organiser of the tent camp, Ulviye Ablayeva, was declared to be at large.[3]
In the final months of the Soviet Union, the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was re-established as a territorial autonomous entity. In contrast to the previous Crimean ASSR, which had been a national and territorial autonomy with the intention of protecting Crimean Tatars, the new Crimean ASSR was purely territorial, therefore entrusting power in the hands of Russians. The response by Crimean Tatars was fierce, and, at the Second Qurultay of the Crimean Tatar People, Declaration of national sovereignty of the Crimean Tatar people was adopted, saying that the Crimean Tatar people have a right to the land and natural resources of Crimea, and that any political decisions should be made with the consent of the Crimean Tatars.[3] The dissolution of the Soviet Union brought an end to the half-hearted repatriation efforts, though a replacement never came; the new Ukrainian government failed to establish a resettlement plan, and numbers of Crimean Tatar returnees rose to 30,000–50,000 after the Soviet Union dissolved.[4]
