Political cleansing of population
Political cleansing of population refers to various ways of politilally motivated elimination of categories of population in certain areas. The means of population cleansing vary from forced migration to genocide.
Typical reasons
Elimination of social base for political opponents
Elimination of social base for political opponents, e.g., for insurgents. This happens in many countries wih high levels of insurgence, e.g., in Colombia.[1]
Removal of social classes
Deportation and exile of the "enemies of the people". A large number of examples of this type are known for the Soviet Union of the first half of the 20th century. When Soviet Union annexed various territories: the Baltic States or parts of Poland and Romania, among the first actions was identification and removal of the social classes classified as "enemies of the working people". Methods of elimination included execution, imprisonment and and deportation. See Population transfer in the Soviet Union and Forced settlements in the Soviet Union.