Learning about the Holocaust is as relevant as ever
According to the United Nations Security Council, ethnic cleansing is “a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas.”
Bosnia & Herzegovina (1992 to 1995)
In 1992, after the Bosnian and Herzegovinian declaration of independence from Yugoslavia, a war broke out between Bosnian Serbian forces and the new independent state. The aim of the Serbs was the “ethnic cleansing” of Bosnian Muslims and Croatians. It is estimated that over 100,000 people had died by the time the conflict ended with negotiations in 1995.
The Rwandan Genocide (1994)
In April 1994, in the midst of the Rwandan Civil War, the majority government of the Hutu people began the mass slaughter of the Tutsi population. It is estimated that between 500,000 and one million people — up to 70 per cent of the Tutsi population in Rwanda — were killed in the 100-day conflict.
Rohingya (2016 to Present)
In October 2016, the military and police of Myanmar, a primarily Buddhist nation, began the persecution of the country’s Rohingya Muslims. Over 2,000 Rohingya have been killed thus far and 600,000 have been forced to flee.
Photo by Peter Clarke