The Rwandan genocide had its origins in decades of ethnic strife (exacerbated by German and Belgian colonial interference) between the Tutsi and Hutu groups. In 1994, the ruling Hutus, who had historically been socially inferior to the Tutsis in Rwandan society and refused to share power with them, began an effort to eradicate the Tutsi minority. More than half a million people were killed before Tutsi rebels overthrew the government later that same year. Millions more from both ethnic groups became refugees ("Rwanda," Encyclopedia Britannica).
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