Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has indicated an increase in numbers of internally displaced persons from Crimea and cases of human rights violations on the peninsula.
More than 2,800 people left Crimea for mainland Ukraine during the past month, bringing the total number of internally displaced persons from Crimea in Ukraine to more than 16,000, UN Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic said when presenting another report by OHCHR in Kyiv on Aug. 29. He also added that previous UN reports had found there were over 11,000 such people.
He noted that the majority of the refugees were Crimean Tatars.
The report also notes that in Crimea, harassment and discrimination have continued against Ukrainian nationals, Crimean Tatars and other minorities. In addition, the rights of journalists, and those of civil and political activists, are being violated as well.
According to Simonovic, UN representatives don’t have direct access to Crimea. He said that UN observers had wanted to open an office in Crimea, but the local authorities had refused to allow this.
