NEZUK, Bosnia and Herzegovina: Thousands of people began marching on Monday toward Srebrenica in eastern Bosnia to mark the anniversary of the 1995 genocide, the worst massacre in Europe since World War II.
The annual march covers a 100-kilometer (62-mile) route to Srebrenica from the village of Nezuk, where the first survivors arrived.
Bosnian Serb forces captured Srebrenica — a UN protected enclave at the time — on July 11, 1995, and killed 8,000 Muslim men and boys.
The atrocity was deemed genocide by two international courts.
Fatima Ibrahimbegovic Alic told AFP her father, Ramiz, was killed trying to escape.
“I go for him, for all of them, to walk this path where they suffered,” she said.
“We need to keep doing this so we never forget.”
Carrying Bosnian, Palestinian and Turkish flags, the marchers will stop at the sites of dozens of mass graves where the remains of victims were found.
“We are here so that Srebrenica never happens again, anywhere ... that everyone knows” about the crime, said Azra Barakovac, a woman who arrived from Sarajevo to march for the first time.
Marcher Resid Dervisevic is one of the rare massacre survivors. In July 1995, he and his eight male relatives fled Srebrenica, running through the woods. His brother, an uncle and six nephews were killed during the escape.
Returning to the scene “brings back emotions, even in the days before this march,” the 64-year-old said holding back tears.
But it is easier to do it now than in 1995 “under a rain of bullets and shells — hungry, barefoot, without sleep for days,” he added.
“I walked for seven days through the forest. I survived on 250 grams of sugar.
“And when we arrived here, on this territory, people welcomed us by giving us everything they had to eat and drink.”
In late May, the United Nations General Assembly established an annual day of remembrance for the 1995 Srebrenica genocide.
The move drew fierce opposition from the Serbian government and Bosnian Serb leaders, who play down the atrocity and refuse to accept it as a genocide.
“We want to dedicate this march to all the people who did not manage to save themselves and who were killed in the Srebrenica genocide,” Ela Rehic, 14, who joined the march with her mother, said.
“It will certainly be difficult to march for three days, but I want to see and experience a bit of what I learned about their flight from Srebrenica.”
Tofik Sejdic, like Rehic, was born after 1995 and said he felt very emotional.
“It’s important not to forget what happened in those years in our country, especially in Srebrenica.
“For our people, for me, Srebrenica is sacred,” the 24-year-old man said.
In late May, the United Nations General Assembly established an annual day of remembrance for the 1995 Srebrenica genocide.
The move drew fierce opposition from the Serbian government and Bosnian Serb leaders, who play down the atrocity and refuse to call it a genocide.
The marchers will reach the memorial center in Potocari, where nearly 7,000 massacre victims were buried, on Wednesday.
They will attend a ceremony to mark the atrocity’s 29th anniversary the next day.
Bosnia’s war 1992-1995 between its Croats, Muslims and Serbs claimed approximately 100,000 lives.
Nearly three decades since the war ended, the Balkan nation remains deeply divided along ethnic lines.
Thousands march to mark Srebrenica genocide anniversary
https://arab.news/9ck7f
Thousands march to mark Srebrenica genocide anniversary
- Annual march covers a 100-kilometer (62-mile) route to Srebrenica from the village of Nezuk, where the first survivors arrived
- Bosnian Serb forces captured Srebrenica — a UN protected enclave at the time — on July 11, 1995, and killed 8,000 Muslim men and boys
Bangladesh halts controversial relocation of Rohingya refugees to remote island
- Administration of ousted PM Sheikh Hasina spent about $350m on the project
- Rohingya refuse to move to island and 10,000 have fled, top refugee official says
DHAKA: When Bangladesh launched a multi-million-dollar project to relocate Rohingya refugees to a remote island, it promised a better life. Five years on, the controversial plan has stalled, as authorities find it is unsustainable and refugees flee back to overcrowded mainland camps.
The Bhasan Char island emerged naturally from river sediments some 20 years ago. It lies in the Bay of Bengal, over 60 km from Bangladesh’s mainland.
Never inhabited, the 40 sq. km area was developed to accommodate 100,000 Rohingya refugees from the cramped camps of the coastal Cox’s Bazar district.
Relocation to the island started in early December 2020, despite protests from the UN and humanitarian organizations, which warned that it was vulnerable to cyclones and flooding, and that its isolation restricted access to emergency services.
Over 1,600 people were then moved to Bhasan Char by the Bangladesh Navy, followed by another 1,800 the same month. During 25 such transfers, more than 38,000 refugees were resettled on the island by October 2024.
The relocation project was spearheaded by the government of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted last year. The new administration has since suspended it indefinitely.
“The Bangladesh government will not conduct any further relocation of the Rohingya to Bhasan Char island. The main reason is that the country’s present government considers the project not viable,” Mizanur Rahman, refugee relief and repatriation commissioner in Cox’s Bazar, told Arab News on Sunday.
The government’s decision was prompted by data from UN agencies, which showed that operations on Bhasan Char involved 30 percent higher costs compared with the mainland camps in Cox’s Bazar, Rahman said.
“On the other hand, the Rohingya are not voluntarily coming forward for relocation to the island. Many of those previously relocated have fled ... Around 29,000 are currently living on the island, while about 10,000 have returned to Cox’s Bazar on their own.”
A mostly Muslim ethnic minority, the Rohingya have lived for centuries in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state but were stripped of their citizenship in the 1980s and have faced systemic persecution ever since.
In 2017 alone, some 750,000 of them crossed to neighboring Bangladesh, fleeing a deadly crackdown by Myanmar’s military. Today, about 1.3 million of them shelter in 33 camps in the coastal Cox’s Bazar district, making it the world’s largest refugee settlement.
Bhasan Char, where the Bangladeshi government spent an estimated $350 million to construct concrete residential buildings, cyclone shelters, roads, freshwater systems, and other infrastructure, offered better living conditions than the squalid camps.
But there was no regular transport service to the island, its inhabitants were not allowed to travel freely, and livelihood opportunities were few and dependent on aid coming from the mainland.
Rahman said: “Considering all aspects, we can say that Rohingya relocation to Bhasan Char is currently halted. Following the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s regime, only one batch of Rohingya was relocated to the island.
“The relocation was conducted with government funding, but the government is no longer allowing any funds for this purpose.”
“The Bangladeshi government has spent around $350 million on it from its own funds ... It seems the project has not turned out to be successful.”
