Colonial Policies of Displacing Peoples, Nations, and Cultures
Adel Bashqawi
December 22, 2024
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This article is not merely a reminder of the tragic cleansing and extermination campaigns that resulted from the deliberate application of systematic, institutional, and organized crime as official Russian state policy against the Circassian nation and other peoples and nations of the Caucasus and beyond. These policies, initiated during the Russian Empire’s invasion and occupation, did not end with those initial conquests; instead, their consequences persist to this day.
The colonial powers fostered and exacerbated ethnic tensions between Indigenous peoples—the rightful owners of these lands—and groups of foreign origins imposed upon the region. Settlements were established on lands seized unlawfully, exploiting the resources of the Circassian nation after the Indigenous population was forcibly displaced to the Ottoman Empire via the Black Sea.
Whenever circumstances arose that allowed for the pursuit of legitimate Circassian rights, colonial authorities introduced alien groups—originally brought in by prior colonial regimes—and empowered them through administrative structures rooted in oppressive military laws. These groups, established through deliberate demographic engineering, have since competed unfairly to claim the rights of others.
Such acts cannot be dismissed or legitimized. International laws and norms unequivocally affirm that the consequences of military occupation—including the theft and looting of Indigenous peoples’ property—are unacceptable under any circumstances. It is intolerable that the rightful owners of their homeland continue to be denied their fundamental right to self-determination and national independence.
The seizure of resources through military invasion evolved into an illegal and unjustified occupation, which in turn led to permanent annexation. Through colonial settlement policies, the occupiers distorted local cultures and undermined the Circassian civilizational ethos, which was rooted in a sacred humanitarian mission. Even opportunities for civilized dialogue were systematically suppressed.
The occupiers engaged in criminal behaviors that encompassed, but were not limited to, acts of occupation, mass killings, destruction, genocide, ethnic cleansing, forced displacement, and deportation. They looted resources, often leaving them stained with the blood of innocents. To ensure their dominance extended to future generations, they also stole, confiscated, and at times destroyed cultural artifacts, language, heritage, arts, customs, values, traditions, and literature.
This campaign of demographic engineering was politically orchestrated and endorsed by officials at the highest levels, including military leaders, army generals, and mercenaries. These measures were integral to meticulously premeditated military strategies, which were implemented and adapted as progress was made on the battlefield—particularly in the closing years of the war.
As Franz Fanon aptly stated:
“For a colonized people, the most essential value, because the most concrete, is first and foremost the land: the land which will bring them bread and, above all, dignity.”
