A Voice For the Voiceless

MISSION

The Advocacy Project seeks to help community-based advocates produce, disseminate and use information, and so become more effective advocates for human rights and social justice

FROM THE PHOTO LIBRARy

www.flickr.com
This is a Flickr badge showing photos in a set called Best of AP. Make your own badge here.

TAKE ACTION FOR ADVOCACY

  • News
  • FAQ
  • Subscribe to our newsletter
  • Search

Resources > Global Issues > Bosnia – War an... > Srebrenica – Ba... > Breakthrough at S...

Breakthrough at Suceska

On June 3, 2000, representatives of 80 Muslim families took matters into their own homes and returned to Suceska, a complex of villages in the hills above Srebrenica.

It began the way most minority refugee returns have begun in Bosnia. A handful of villagers simply crossed the Inter-Entity Border Line and started clearing out the rubble from their houses. They were encouraged and supported by Srebrenica 99, a multiethnic nongovernmental organization based in Tuzla. (See below)

Hard-line nationalists were still very influential in Srebrenica at the time, and they did not expect return to Suceska to take root. Indeed, when The Advocacy Project visited the villagers in July of 2000, their prospects seemed very uncertain. Suceska was an isolated outpost in hostile territory and they were living in very primitive conditions.

But Suceska’s isolation also cushioned it from harassment, and soon after the first wave of settlers returned the international community turned an important corner in its struggle against the Serb nationalists. The violence eased in 2000, and the atmosphere in Srebrenica became much more amenable to return. Emboldened and encouraged by the determination of the grassroots leaders, dozens of Srebrenicans -- and then hundreds -- began to prepare for return to the villages.


Photo credit: Peter Lippman
Return Settlement: Suceska.

Return to a village was, in one sense, the path of least resistance, and some leaders of the movement to the villages were criticized for “spending an afternoon roasting meat in the countryside.” But life in these destroyed villages was no picnic and the general feeling was that they represented an essential first step on the road to Srebrenica itself. Apart from all else, villages like Suceska could supply returnees in the town with food.

The Suceska project began with regular visits in the fall of 1999. Visitors began inspecting their pre-war homes to see what could be cleaned and rebuilt, and cleaning started. Most of the houses had not been destroyed. They had been bombed and torched, and many roofs had caught fire and fallen in. But because of the solid stone, cinderblock, and concrete construction, many walls and floors remained, leaving the hull of a house. In extreme cases the walls fell in upon themselves. But plenty of repairable shells remained.

The first group of over 50 family members came back to Suceska on June 3, 2000, and set up tents lent by the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). They threw up a kitchen/dining shelter and went to work clearing rubble, preparing their houses for reconstruction. This was the first group return to Srebrenica municipality. 


Photo credit: Peter Lippman
Breaching the ethnic barrier - Rebuilding begins at Suceska.

Within a month, contractors and private owners were replacing roofs, doors, and windows in at least a half-dozen homes. The UNHCR supplied tools for clearing rubble from destroyed houses, as well as farming and reconstruction implements. Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and UNHCR both prepared to rebuild houses in Suceska.

The movement back picked up during the summer months. By early August, 200 houses had been cleared of rubble in Suceska, and 350 families had applied to reclaim their property. The ethnic barrier had been breached. The refugees were starting to come home.

Profile-Srebrenica 99

Hakija Meholjic, leader of Srebrenica 99, visits the Suceska encampment.
Photo credit: Peter Lippman
In 1999, a group of displaced Srebrenican activists based in Tuzla founded Srebrenica 99, an organization determined to make return happen. To a large extent, they were responsible for the first successful returns to villages in Srebrenica municipality.

Srebrenica 99 has been a multi-ethnic organization from its inception. The organization promoted collaboration between displaced Muslims and their Serb former neighbors, some of whom had returned to Srebrenica. It identified the nationalist parties on both sides as being opposed to return.

Vesna Mustafic, an activist in Srebrenica 99, told The Advocacy Project: “When we decided to form Srebrenica 99, we knew that we would have problems, because we wish to reconcile people. It is not in the interest of the governments for us to return, neither those in the Federation, nor here in Srebrenica. However, we speak with people and try to recreate the trust that we had, because we used to live together, intermarried, became godparents, and friends. That cannot all be erased -- it’s impossible.”

Hakija Meholjic, who was the police chief of Srebrenica during the war and is now director of Srebrenica 99, called for the establishment of a mixed police force for the municipality.

Braving security problems, members of Srebrenica 99 established contact with some of their Serb former neighbors and colleagues who had returned to Srebrenica after the war. They met in Tuzla and began to rebuild friendly ties. These efforts laid a tentative groundwork for better relations between the two ethnic groups. During this period, Srebrenica 99 compiled data on displaced Serbs who wished to return from Srebrenica to the Federation. The organization also took note of the many internally displaced Serbs -- Serbs from villages around Srebrenica living in the town -- who wished to return home.

By mid-1999, Srebrenica 99 was able to organize a multi-ethnic summer camp for children, as a new step in gradual reconciliation. The camp, near Teocak on the border between entities, was attended by displaced Muslim children and their former Serb playmates from Srebrenica. Around 120 people, aged 10 to 30, camped for two weeks. Vesna Mustafic said, “People swam and played sports. This shows that we can still live together.”

In late 1999, Vesna Mustafic told The Advocacy Project, “The Serbs are coming to us and saying, ‘Come, hurry back to Srebrenica.’ Every day, more people are getting in touch with us. I love Srebrenica very much and will do all I can to return. All of my memories are there. It was a very beautiful town. Now it is sad and ugly, but we will fix it. The desire to return exists. Whoever says it does not is wrong.”

Having laid the groundwork for return, Srebrenica 99 organized the first group return to Srebrenica municipality in June 2000. Hakija Meholjic explained that this was prompted mainly by frustration. “We talked to the international community for three years, telling them that we wish to go back to our homes in Srebrenica. For three years, they did not take us seriously. There was no assistance from the international community on this problem. So we decided to take our own steps to return.”

Srebrenica 99 had to struggle to get assistance for its project. Some of the first organizations to help were domestic ones: the government of Tuzla Canton and Merhamet charity were (and still are) significant contributors. After the first permanent return to Suceska, agencies of the international community took notice. High Representative Wolfgang Petritsch commented that the Suceska settlement was “the biggest move towards the reunification of Bosnia.”

The UNHCR donated tents and “quick aid” grants. In the same summer of the return to Suceska, Srebrenica 99 led displaced Srebrenicans back to several other villages around the municipality including Podgaj, Bajramovici, and several villages near Potocari. Slowly but surely return to villages has continued, and by early 2002 a dozen international organizations were helping.

Back


Subscribe Newswire:

Services

Dissemination+


Read AP news bulletins


 

FIND A PARTNER

The Advocacy Project develops partnerships with advocates on the frontline and with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). In so doing, we take our cue from partners and tailor any support to their needs.