Ms Irina Siedova, a Crimean Human Right Group expert, told Krym.Realii website, that the situation with rights of Ukrainians in Crimea ‘is very sad’.
“We have been observing for 6 years how the rights of Ukrainians are constantly being infringed. Russia is trying to do everything so that nothing Ukrainian remains on the peninsula. This can be seen from the political persecution, that has been discussed today, and can be seen from the policy of Russia towards children to impose the Russian citizenship. This is a deliberate policy of Russia in order to minimize the possibility of protests, to minimize the possibility for active Ukrainians to unite, so they are trying to squeeze all active Ukrainians out of Crimea, ” Ms Siedova said.
She said that they kept on investigating the militarization of children and one of such striking aspects is that the Convention on the Rights of the Child includes Article 8 that States Parties shall undertake to respect the right of the child to preserve his or her identity, including nationality…’
‘These children were born in Ukraine, they all are Ukrainian nationals. This is being erased, eliminated in various ways. Since the governmental policy of Russia is aimed at raising nationals and patriots of Russia’, Ms Siedova said.
