Ukrainian Foreign Ministry: Russians are not an indigenous people, but a diaspora - they have no right to determine the future of Crimea

Kyiv, March 19 (Navigator, Mikhail Ryabov) - Russians in Ukraine are not an indigenous people, but a diaspora, the speaker of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said at a briefing, commenting on the past referendum on self-determination of the inhabitants of Crimea.

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“This right concerns indigenous peoples. As of today, there are 4 indigenous peoples living in Ukraine, the ethnogenesis of which is connected specifically with the territory of Ukraine - Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars, Karaites, Krymchaks, the last three of them come from the territory of Crimea. The remaining national minorities of Ukraine are a diaspora of peoples who have their ethnic homelands or national entities outside of Ukraine and, as a rule, are dispersed among Ukrainians, with the exception of Hungarians, Moldovans, Romanians, Bulgarians, and to a lesser extent Poles and Russians, who have small areas compact residence on the periphery of the Ukrainian ethnic territory.

Issues related to the settlement of the rights of indigenous peoples are regulated at the international level and are defined in the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted in 2007. This document enshrines the right of indigenous peoples to a decent life, the preservation and development of their own culture and institutions of self-government, as well as the right to develop the people in the direction that they themselves determine is most appropriate to their needs.

Articles 3 and 4 of the Declaration establish that indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination and free determination of their political status.

Taking this into account, any change in the status of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea without the participation and coordination of such changes with its indigenous people – the Crimean Tatars, is a violation of international law and the legislation of Ukraine,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.