Thousands are fleeing Crimea — those that stay must get - TopicsExpress

Thousands are fleeing Crimea — those that stay must get “residency permits” to keep their Ukrainian citizenship. The Crimean Tatars have historic reason to be wary of Russia: Stalin oversaw the forced deportation of thousands of Crimean Tatars to Uzbekistan in 1944. It was only after the collapse of the Soviet Union that many were allowed to return home. The people who still remember these events are very afraid that the same thing will happen. They don’t trust the Russians. “In the Russian Federation, for us, life was very uncomfortable. . . . We enjoyed full freedom of religion in Ukraine. We don’t know how it will go [under Russia]. Russia has claimed Crimeans who want to remain a part of Ukraine can obtain residency permits to keep their Ukrainian citizenship and remain at home, but the reality is quite different.