What term describes the removal of a less powerful ethnic group by a more powerful ethnic group with the intent to eliminate it?

• A. Ethnic cleansing
• B. Ethnic segregation
• C. Genocide
• D. Forced migration

Answer: (A)

Think about what the term emphasizes: the goal behind the violence. Ethnic cleansing describes forcing a group out of a territory—expulsion or relocation to alter who lives there. It centers on removal from a place, not necessarily on destroying the group as such. Genocide, by contrast, is defined by an intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, in whole or in part, which can include killing members, inflicting conditions that lead to death, or forcibly transferring children to another group. If the stated aim is elimination of the group itself, genocide is the more accurate label because it captures that intent to destroy the group as a distinct entity. Forced migration and ethnic segregation describe coercion to move or to compartmentalize groups, but not the explicit aim of erasing the group’s existence.