Crimea Vote Fuels Fear Of Discrimination

When the polls open in Crimea today there will be some voters staying away - Tatars living outside of the region.

Most are refusing to return to take part in the referendum on joining the Russian Federation, insisting the poll is illegal.

 Elvina Musaeva, a young Tatar who has moved to the capital Kiev to study, says: "I have Crimean residency, but I will not vote for sure. The referendum is not legitimate. The decision is already made. This is a political issue."

The friends she is sharing dinner with in a restaurant in the capital all agree that the result of the referendum is a forgone conclusion.

The balance of the population in Crimea favours Russia. But it's a painful history under a former Soviet leader which makes them fear what may happen now.

Elnara Abdullaiera says the forced deportation of Tatars by Stalin in 1944 has left a permanent psychological scar.

After accusing them of colluding with the Nazi, Stalin banished hundreds of thousands of her people.

Crimean Tatars during rallies in Simferopol last month

Elnara says: "They cannot face deportation again. They cannot bear to moved again. Many lost everything."

After seeing the violent clashes in Crimea on television, Elnara begged her mother to leave the region.

"I feel the danger. I am afraid for the life of my mother, afraid for the life of my father," she says.

"But my mother says I don't want to live anywhere else. This is my home. I don't want to go to another place. My mother says this is our homeland."

Many families lost properties, money and livelihoods during the mass deportations. Only returning decades after to try to rebuild their lives.

There's no doubt that experience feeds into their determination to stay in Crimea and fuels their antipathy of the Russian government.

Crimean expert Natalya Berlitser says Tatars are right to be wary.

Tatars say they are afraid of impending Russian control

She believes if the referendum goes Russia's way, which seems certain, then over time they will face discrimination, especially as they have been openly critical of President Putin's move.

"We have to remember the history with Russia," she says.

"My concern for the Crimean Tatars is that in the initial period there will not be any drastic measures against them. But when the world turns away, when the international protectors of Ukraine's independence like the US and the UK get distracted by other crises, when they look away, then they (the Tatars) will become targets."

That's a worrying scenario for Tatars inside and away from Crimea.

They acknowledge that their failure to vote will make the backing for Russia seems all the stronger. But they are resigned to a result that can only cause problems for them.

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