Similar case

Submitted by Petter Nikula (Finland), Apr 12, 2005 at 09:30

I'm not sure what degree of similarity you would accept. The cases I have in mind differ from the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza (imho) only in that they were not volontary. In the peace accords signed between Russia and Finland after the second world war, Finland was obliged to hand over large areas of land to Russia, mainly the eastern Carelia province.

The Finnish civilian population in these areas had to be relocated to the heartland. A part of southern Finland (Porkkala) was also lent to the Russians for a period of originally 50 years (I would remember), but was handed back much sooner. Also in this case, Finland was obliged to relocate the civilian population. These relocations have been a sore point for those who were evacuated, and their decendants for the past 60 years, with many of them still demanding a return of the ceded areas from Russia.

I'm sure you will find similar cases if you dig a little deeper in history and look at what took place when territory was ceded as part of peace treaties.

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