Ethnic cleansing and genocide are two terms often used to describe the systematic and brutal annihilation of specific populations. Both concepts are rooted in hatred and jealousy and involve the intention of one social political group to remove another ethnic or religious group from a particular area. However, there are differences between the two.
Key Takeaways
- Ethnic cleansing is a systematic attempt by one political or socio-religious group to remove a particular ethnic or religious group from a specific area through coercive means, including forced migrations and brutal killings to terrorize a minority population. The purpose is to force them to leave a particular territory and create a more homogeneous population.
- Genocide involves the mass murder of a political or religious group by another group in a country. The purpose of genocide is similar to ethnic cleansing, but the means adopted in genocide are much more brutal, as it involves mass murders and brutal killings.
- The main difference between ethnic cleansing and genocide is that ethnic cleansing focuses more on forced migrations, while genocide strictly involves mass murders and brutal killings.
