Merima Tricic’s family was forced to leave Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1993. The mass funeral she attended a few years ago was a reminder of what her relatives faced during the Bosnian War.
Like many Bosnian students at UCLA, Tricic, a third-year world arts and cultures, political science and study of religion student, is a child of the Bosnian War and a survivor of the Srebrenica massacre. The war resulted in about 100,000 deaths between 1992 and 1995, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Students discussed the Bosnian Genocide at a vigil Wednesday evening. Tricic, who coordinated the vigil with Din Catic, a fourth-year materials engineering student, said the event was held to remember those who died during the war and protest the arrests of Bosnian survivors living in the Balkan Peninsula.
“(Bosnian students) feel like we don’t have a space to discuss what our families went through during the war,” she said.
Tricic’s father lost his sight fighting the Serbian occupation during the war. She said she fears for her family’s safety and for other genocide survivors in the Balkan Peninsula, who she says are targeted and accused of terrorism by Serbian officials.
The recent Armenian Genocide remembrance on campus prompted the organizers to host one in remembrance of the Bosnian War, Tricic said.
“For years we’ve seen others recognize the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide, but we have not seen vigils or remembrances for the Bosnian Genocide,” Tricic said. “This is one of the most recent genocides to occur, and it’s frustrating seeing how little knowledge there is about it.”
During the vigil, about 15 students stood in a circle in Meyerhoff Park, where they listened to students’ accounts of the war and genocide.
Tricic said her father and pregnant mother fled from Bosnia to Germany as medical refugees during the war. In 1993, a family in Fresno paid for them to immigrate to the U.S., where Tricic was born.
Each year, the International Commission on Missing Persons finds more bodies of those killed during the war. Scientists perform DNA tests to identify the victims, and alert families of the deceased in May and June.
“It’s a very painful time for many Bosnians,” Catic said. “You can only imagine what it’s like finding bodies even 20 years after the war.”
Students also held a moment of silence before going to Rolfe Hall to discuss Bosnian history. During the discussion, Tricic shared jokes that she had heard in Bosnia about the war.
“Bosnians joke about the war a lot, not because it’s funny but because it’s the only way they can deal with what happened,” she said.
Third-year anthropology student Damali Stennette said she attended the event to learn more about the struggles faced by Bosnians.
Jodutt Basrawi, a third-year geology student from Saudi Arabia, said the discussion taught him more about similarities between historical events in Bosnia and current events in countries like Syria.
“Our goal was to teach people about the genocide and how Bosnians are still affected by it,” Tricic said.
She said she hopes the Bosnian government takes action to stop Serbian officials from arresting more survivors and demands the release of those unfairly arrested.
Next thing you know, whites will be trying to appropriate this genocide and start whining about “white genocide.”
Tricic, you wrote:
“For years we’ve seen others recognize the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide, but we have not seen vigils or remembrances for the Bosnian Genocide. This is one of the most recent genocides to occur, and it’s frustrating seeing how little knowledge there is about it.”
On the contrary, many of us in this country know a great deal about the Bosnian Genocide – because we lost soldiers in the fighting. And while I extend my condolences for your suffering, I think I can speak for many American when I say that I can’t help but feel a little slighted.
No where in this article do you even mention that the USA lead a Nato force into Bosnia specifically to halt the genocide and save thousands of Muslim lives. I see this consistently: The USA sacrificed and lost soldiers in Bosnia, but it seems many Muslims (particularly those from outside this country) would prefer not to give the USA any credit for what they did in Bosnia.
Here we have a case where the USA went in to save Muslims – and there was no oil, land or any substantial benefit for the USA to do this. It was a purely humanitarian venture, but most Muslims don’t even want to acknowledge it. It seems they feel that it just doesn’t play into the popular narrative that “everyone in the USA are Islamophobic and against Muslims”.
If you want to build more awareness for the Bosnian Genocide in this country, when you write such articles, you might consider mentioning the USA deserves some appreciation and gratitude for their sacrifices in Bosnia.
The article was not written by Tricic, but a reporter, and it is the reporter’s duty to explain nuances. Of course, not all of the details of the memorial event were reported here, so it is entirely possible that Tricic and other students did discuss the history of the event and all of those involved. So while I can appreciate your concern that those details were not reported in this article, it is also important to consider that the article is not a history lesson, but a report by a non-Muslim, non-Bosnian reporter about a memorial event that was held on campus. My point is, 1) do not hold Tricic responsible for the content in the article, she only lead the remembrance event, and 2) respect that the short article could not possibly contain all of the details necessary to describe this nuanced and horrific event, and finally 3) no, many Americans do NOT know the about the Bosnian genocide, but it is great that you are educated about this and it is great too, that you are able to provide a US perspective on our role in supporting the Bosnian Muslim people during that time.