Saturday, July 5, 2025

Kamchatka Governor Calls for Ending Privileges Indigenous Peoples Now Have

Paul Goble

            Staunton, July 2 – Kamchatka Governor Vladimir Solodov says that the authorities should stop dividing people by nationality in distant settlements and instead equalize the rights of long-time residents of whatever nationality to those of members of indigenous numerically small peoples of the North.

            Arguing that giving more rights to indigenous peoples than to others who have moved in is “unjust,” he argues that all the people living in a particular district should have the same rights (nazaccent.ru/content/44188-na-kamchatke-predlozhili-ne-delit-naselenie-po-nacionalnosti-dlya-polucheniya-lgot/).

            Treating all residents the same may seem more just, but in fact, it will represent another nail in the coffin of indigenous nationalities whose survival depends on their being treated differently than those who have moved into their territory and often have come to outnumber the indigenous population.

            That outcome of Solodov’s proposal is bad enough, but it likely presages a move by Moscow under the cover of claims that such a step is all about “justice” that would prove even more disastrous not just for numerically small nations in the North and Far East but also for larger non-Russian nations.

            Minorities in countries around the world have suffered when governments in response to the demands of majorities have moved to eliminate the special arrangements that have been made to help them overcome discrimination and survive; and Solodov’s suggestion is likely how such moves will be made in Russia, first on the distant periphery and then closer to the center.

No comments:

Post a Comment