Dear all,

we all know how sensible the topic of disputed boundaries can be (they are not 
necessarily a big problem, many boundary disputes like between Italy and France 
about the summit of Mont Blanc / Monte Bianco, have little bearing on the 
actual life of people).

Therefore we can all be satisfied there is clear guidance from the board how to 
deal with this: the local situation determines how we map, and the OSMF is 
explicit here: “National borders are particularly sensitive. Currently, we 
record one set that, in OpenStreetMap contributor opinion, is most widely 
internationally recognised and best meets realities on the ground, generally 
meaning physical control.”

https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/w/images/d/d8/DisputedTerritoriesInformation.pdf 

When I recently looked at Crimea I noticed it is still part of the Ucraine in 
OSM: https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/60199

As many might know, the current boundary situation for Crimea was frozen 4 
years ago “for a short time” by the DWG and so I asked them about their current 
position 2 months ago, and after I got no reply, tried to remind them 5 weeks 
ago, but have not yet gotten any reply, so I am now opening this thread here.

IMHO, for consistency and credibility, we should either recognize that Russia 
is actually controlling Crimea, or we should update the disputed borders 
information. As I believe the general concept of ground truth for admin 
boundaries was a good idea, I would tend to the former.

I also believe the actual situation has already been ignored for too long. When 
the thing is still dynamic or/and we’re in the middle of a conflict it can be 
wise to step back and see for some time how things are evolving, but 4 years 
are a lot of time, something like one year would seem more reasonable.

What do you think?

Cheers, Martin 

sent from a phone

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Martin Koppenhoefer <dieterdre...@gmail.com>
> Date: 20. August 2018 at 10:42:33 CEST
> To: d...@osmfoundation.org
> Subject: DWG policy on Crimea
> 
> 
> Dear members of the DWG,
> 
> as of this question in the help forum:
> 
> https://help.openstreetmap.org/questions/65436/what-is-the-current-position-of-the-dataworkinggroup-on-crimea
>  
> 
> I kindly invite you to reconsider and eventually update your position on the 
> situation in Crimea.
> 
> As you have stated in 2014, this should not be the long term way to deal with 
> the situation, and short term is probably coming to an end. There is clear 
> guidance by the OSMF board how to deal with disputed boundaries (as the 
> situation seems to be more stable than some would have liked).
> 
> My motivation is not promoting the Russian point of view, but to act 
> predictably and consistent wrt sensible topics.
> 
> Thank you,
> cheers,
> Martin 
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