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The UN Human Rights Committee expressed regret that its documents in Estonia are not published in Russian, including those where recommendations to Estonian authorities are provided, the ERR portal reports. The problem of statelessness and the situation of national minorities in Baltic republic was discussed during the meeting of Estonian delegation with representatives of the Committee. It took place in European branch of the international organization in Geneva.
Representatives of Tallinn were asked to tell about what the government is doing to integrate Russian-speaking population in all areas of country's life. According to international experts, national minorities have difficulties with finding work. It is much more difficult for them to get a job both in state structures and in private sector.
Participants of Estonian delegation said that lack of translations and publications of official documents of the committee in Russian exists due to lack of funding. They also stated that the authorities are taking measures to reduce the number of non-citizens.
More than 75,000 stateless people live in Estonia, which is 5.5% of the population.
As Russkiy Mir reported, the problem of non-citizens has existed in Latvia and Estonia for almost 30 years. It remains relevant today as well, and for the most part it concerns Russian-speaking people. People pay taxes, work for benefit of the state, but at the same time they are deprived of many civil rights. In particular, they cannot participate in referendums, elections of parliament and local authorities. There are restrictions on movement within the European Union. Riga and Tallinn called for the attention of the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the UN, and many other international institutions. This question was raised by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Russkiy Mir
