MEP Karen Melchior shared her visit to the European Parliament and highlighted the commemoration of the genocide of Srebrenica was discussed on July 9, 2023. She added that while the Dutch UN forces meekly stepped aside, the slaying of more than 7,000 Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) boys and Bosnian Serb forces in Srebrenica was perpetrated by men.
In her speech, she added, “We as Europeans and the international community failed to protect those to whom we had promised protection locally rather than refuge abroad.”
Last year, MEP Melchior visited Bosnia’s memorial cemetery for the 1995 Srebrenica massacre on the annual day of commemoration. The memorial cemetery still receives new casks as more genocide victims are identified. They are allowing their loved ones to bury them and get closure.
Furthermore, she extended that the war produced lasting scars on families for generations. As responsible citizens, we must ensure that the perpetrators of war crimes are prosecuted, and impunity is stopped.
Many women in Bosnia-Herzegovina still have not yet received any acknowledgement of the crimes committed against them, such as:
- Sexual violence as a part of armed conflict remains taboo.
- Forcing the victims never to be acknowledged.
- Deal with their trauma alone.
MEP Karen Melchior shared a piece of advice with the general population of Denmark and all the European countries: we must learn the lessons from past wars and conflicts to do better for the victims of today.
As per the sources, The Srebrenica massacre occurred two years after the United Nations designated the city as a “safe area” for civilians fleeing fighting between separatist Serb forces and the Bosnian government during the division of Yugoslavia.
Five hundred lightly armed international peacekeepers protected and sheltered 20,000 refugees along with 37,000 residents in the city. The genocide of Serb forces documented after overpowering the UN troop was carried out.
