Estonia discriminates against Russian speakers - activists
TALLINN. May 6 (Interfax) - Estonian human rights activists have claimed the existence in their country of discrimination against its Russian-speaking population, human trafficking, hostility towards sexual minorities and other human rights violations.
One of the biggest problems for the country's Russian speakers is the difficulty in obtaining Estonian citizenship, according to a report titled "On Human Rights in Estonia 2013" prepared by the Estonian Center for Human Rights and published in a number of national newspapers on Tuesday.
"Despite our repeated suggestions to consider granting automatic Estonian citizenship to children born in Estonia to parents without citizenship, the problem remains unresolved," Center head Kari Kasper told the Postimees newspaper.
New for the country is the currently government-debated issue of dual citizenship to be granted only to Estonians who are citizens by birth. This leaves many thousands of Russians who have obtained the Estonian citizenship through naturalization process without the right to obtain Russian citizenship, for instance.
Furthermore, the Center has called for more investigation into the problem of equal access to education, employment and career growth among Estonia's Russian-speaking population.
"We have been unable to integrate our Russians for over two decades now," Kasper said.
At the same time, at the legislative level there has been shift from the deadlock in the discussion of penalties for racism, xenophobia and inciting ethnic hatred, which began in 2012, the authors of the survey said.
Many young Estonian women are being smuggled into European brothels, they said. In Luxembourg alone, a total of over 90 young women were forced to work as prostitutes, according to the Center.
An inquiry is needed to establish the extent of the Estonian security services' involvement in the U.S. eavesdropping and spying programs, the Center said.
Also, Estonia should pass the law "On Cohabitation" permitting same-sex marriages, the Center said. This will ensure protection for homosexuals against discrimination and hostile attitudes, Estonian human rights activists said.
