|
|
Dictionary definition: ethnic cleansing
- Article from:
- The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics
- Author:
Copyright© The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics 2003, originally published by Oxford University Press 2003. (Hide copyright information)
|
ethnic cleansing
A contentious and ill-defined term used extensively from May 1992 onwards by the international media, Western politicians and diplomats to describe a systematic policy of mass killings, deportation, rape, internment, and intimidation engaged in by rival ethnic groups of the former Yugoslav republic of Bosnia-Hercegovina with the goal of rendering ethnically mixed areas homogeneous and thereby establishing a
de facto
claim on ethnic grounds to sovereignty over disputed territory. Principally, though not exclusively, applied to the actions of Bosnian-Serb paramilitaries backed by elements of the Yugoslav People's Army. Subsequently used to refer to other instances of minority ...