Friday 20 June 2014

Ethnic and Cultural Cleansing in Ukraine

On the centennial anniversary of “Russophilic” individuals (Rusyns) from modern-day Ukraine being sent to concentration camps, history appears set to once again repeat itself.
The Ukrainian Defense Minister has publicly voiced his plan to corral the citizens of Donbass into special “filtration” camps prior to forcibly resettling them in different parts of Ukraine. A few days later, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yatsenyukdeclared the pro-federalists in the East to be “subhuman”. This choice of words not only wasn’t condemned by Kiev’s American patrons, but was actually defended by State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki, who strangely said that Yatsenyuk “has consistently been in support of a peaceful resolution”.
Raising concerns even higher that a full-fledged cleansing is being planned, Ukraine’s land agency said that it will be giving “free land” from the east to the military, Interior Ministry, and Special Services troops battling the federalists. With Ukraine on the verge of large-scale ethnic and cultural cleansing, it is little wonder at whose expense this Lebenstraum-like “free land” will be given.
00d-memorial-to-talerhof-rova-farms-300x2021914 was the first time that people of a supposed pro-Russian affiliation were rounded up and sent to concentration camps. The
Austrians imprisoned Rusyns and Lemkos (a closely related sub-ethnic group) in Thalerhof because their self-identification was seen as treasonous. In the same manner, the self-identification of the people of Donbass is also being seen as treasonous, at least according to Ukraine’s Defense Minister Mikhail Koval.
He was appointed to his position after his predecessor’s dismissal following the reunification of Russia and Crimea. Koval’s extreme statement of intent for the people of Donbass also validates Russia’s prior concerns in March, elaborated upon in the White Book on human rights violations in Ukraine, that Crimea was facing an imminent humanitarian crisis before the reunification. If Crimea had not defended itself and reunified with Russia, now that the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s post-crisis ‘resolution’ plans have been made public, it is very likely that its citizens would already be imprisoned in a special “filtration” camp of some sorts and forcibly moved out of their home region (if they survived the ordeal).
River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
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