Bosnia

Background information

After the break-up of the former Yugoslavia in 1992, the newly declared republic became the subject of irredentist claims by neighbouring Serbia and Croatia.

The subsequent war left an estimated 100,000 people killed and saw unspeakable atrocities including the re-emergence of concentration camps in Europe for the first time since World War Two.

At the height of the bloodletting, over 8000 unarmed men and boys seeking refuge in the UN protected “safe-haven” of Srebrenica were massacred in cold blood by Serb soldiers.

The gruesome episode remains a salutary reminder of the evil depths to which humanity can sink in the name of ethnocentric nationalism. It is also a grim warning of the precarious status of Muslim minorities in Europe, even those that appear to be well integrated.

As the passage of time makes the tragedy more and more distant, IHRC strives to keep the memory of the Bosnia War alive in a number of ways including remembering Bosnia in our Genocide Memorial Day that takes place every year and supplying resources to schools to help them teach students about Bosnia.

The Right of Return from Bosnia to East Timor: A Comparative Analysis

The author looks at the particularities and precedent set by the resolution of other conflicts and the primacy and effectiveness of the principle of refugee return in all namely: Bosnia, East Timor, Tajikistan and Kosovo. In all cases international norms were respected and implemented, even when conflicts were fought over and resolved on the right of self-determination. Refugee return is not only a moral imperative but one that can be practically implemented and have long reaching pragmatic results in terms of nation-building and creating cohesive and potentially egalitarian societies.