Escape from Crimea: the Tatar
When Crimea was occupied and annexed by Russian forces in 2014,
many promises were made by the new authorities
about protecting the peninsula citizens.
But when we interviewed Crimeans living in Kiev,
we found out that several had left their home region because of fear.
In the first story we talk to a Crimean Tatar
about why he escaped from Crimea.
My feelings are Crimea has turned into a prison.
My relatives keep calling that people disappear
and the press is not informed. Why? Because when people disappear,
particularly the believers are Muslims,
the relatives are afraid to report it to the authorities.
It's like letting criminals know
about the violence taking place. It’s pointless.
Official statistics is about eighteen to nineteen cases,
but in reality there is a larger number of cases.
They are covered up, as people are afraid
that reporting these cases will only make matters worse.
On 21 November, when people came out to the Maidan,
I was here, I was at the Maidan, the European square,
and I spent here practically...
I was there almost every day with the Crimean Tatar flag.
So de facto I became the activist of the Maidan.
I did not throw any Molotov cocktails, as on that picture,
and did not participate in any activities with the use of force,
but as a representative of my people. With our flag I was there quite often,
so I did not hide my position.
And in the social networks there were photographs and videos.
And people in Yalta, where I live, the neighbours,
they all knew about this. So at the moment when I came back
to see the family on 22 or 23 February,
I already felt the antagonism of the population around us,
non-Tatar population.
So it was clear to me that this might not end well.
Well, there were questions from the neighbours:
When are you going to leave? How are you going to sell your house?
Even though we were not announcing anything.
So it went subtle, creation of the situation, which caused anxiety.
When you're asked: How do you plan to sell your house?
We want to buy your house for a low price.
At school they stopped teaching. My son is in the third form,
there was a ban on teaching Ukrainian language.
Tatar was not taught at all. They started applying propaganda.
So to avoid this influence,
as my son is the only Crimean Tatar in his class...
It is quite a cunning system. There were no direct threats,
but they were creating an atmosphere of anxiety.
That’s what it was first of all.
The intimidation started already in Kiev.
They thought we were still in Crimea
and we were receiving the calls here, including for example,
our flat was mortgaged, mortgaged by the bank.
And the bank sold our data to the Russian Federation.
So the calls started from Moscow:
We will take your accommodation away, etc. That sort of thing.
There they at least have the roof over their heads.
They’re in an anxious state.
They ask me: Why isn’t Ukraine proactive?
They say: Why did you not switch of water, electricity, gas, everything?
Cut of everything. It is better... How do you say this in Russian?
It is better to have a horrible end rather than horror without an end.
I left with the family, my wife and four children,
and two of my sisters with their families. But the rest,
the larger part of the family, remains there of course,
but they are all anxious. They’re all in a state of anxiety.
Somebody ended up with a stroke; somebody had a heart attack.
So they are all in a very bad psychological state.