Dutch Parliament recognizes 1944 Crimean Tatar deportation as genocide

The motion submitted by Dutch Member of Parliament Derk Boswijk notes that "various countries have recognized the mass deportation of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Union in 1944 as genocide."

It also emphasizes that since the occupation of Crimea in 2014, many Crimean Tatars have been unjustly imprisoned, tortured, or gone missing — suggesting that "Russia has likely continued the policy of genocide against the Crimean Tatar people."

"The House of Representatives expresses its position by recognizing the mass deportation of Crimean Tatars in 1944 as genocide by today's standards and condemns it," the motion reads. It also urges the Dutch government to assess whether the deportation qualifies as genocide.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha welcomed the decision by the Dutch lower house, calling it "a powerful gesture of solidarity with the Crimean Tatar people, who are still being persecuted."

"I thank the Netherlands for becoming the seventh country outside of Ukraine to recognize this crime as genocide, and I urge all other nations to do the same. This is the right thing to do," he wrote on social media platform X.

In May 2024, the Ukrainian Parliament - Verkhovna Rada - called on the international community to recognize the 1944 deportation of Crimean Tatars as an act of genocide.

To date, seven countries have officially recognized the deportation as genocide.

Notably, in July last year, Poland's Sejm adopted a resolution commemorating the victims of the 1944 deportation of Crimean Tatars by Soviet authorities.