Members' Business: Holodomor Remembrance Day

That the Parliament notes the day of commemoration and remembrance of the Ukrainian Holodomor, literally meaning "extermination by hunger", was a deliberate man-made famine designed by Joseph Stalin’s Soviet regime to crush Ukrainian nationalism and the Ukrainian peasantry, whom he viewed as a threat; understands that, due to the wall of secrecy imposed by the former Soviet Union, it is difficult to know how many perished during the Holodomor of 1932-33, although recognises that recent research suggests that between three and seven and a half million may have died as a direct result of the Soviet-imposed famine in Ukraine; notes that, during the height of the famine, international offers of aid and support were turned down by the regime, while vital food stores were allowed to rot in warehouses under armed guard; believes the Holodomor to be a deliberate act of genocide that must be fully understood and recognised by current and future generations, and notes the important role that the Holodomor Remembrance Day plays in achieving this aim.