1. Case-study No. & Title:
173. Srebrenica 99, an organization based in Tuzla, north-eastern Bosnia: struggling to establish the return of Muslims displaced from Srebrenica and nearby villages (1999–2001 and beyond).

Keywords:

2. Author information
2.1 Author’s Name:
Peter Lippman

2.2 Institutional Affiliation and Contact Details:
Peter Lippman is a staff researcher for The Advocacy Project, based in Washington D.C. (www.advocacynet.org). He can be contacted at peter@advocacynet.org

2.3 Date recorded:
31 December, 2000

3. Good Practice Information Sheet
3.1 Local Level Good Practice:
Srebrenica 99 negotiates with local authorities in Srebrenica municipality and with international relief organizations to facilitate the return of displaced Muslim refugees to the town and surrounding villages. In the summer of 2000, in the face of sometimes violent opposition, this organization implemented the first group return to several villages near Srebrenica.

3.2 Location:
Srebrenica 99 has been based in Tuzla, but some of its activists will be moving to Srebrenica in 2001.

3.3 Minority/Target Groups:
Srebrenica 99 works to help displaced Muslims located in collective centers and abandoned homes in Tuzla and Sarajevo Cantons to return to Srebrenica municipality.

3.4 Major Actors Involved:

3.5 Budget allocated by local government authorities and/or by other actors:
Budget information is not available.

3.6 Timeframe:
Srebrenica 99 was formed and launched its practices in mid-1999. It plans to continue its work indefinitely, as funding permits.

3.7 Local level good practice relation to national level ethnic policy:
Srebrenica 99’s formation and work is based solely on local citizen initiative. The organization has received some valuable assistance in return from the Tuzla Canton government, where many people who were displaced from Srebrenica are now living. However, Srebrenica 99 has received no assistance from the local authorities in Srebrenica, and at times has encountered serious resistance to its programs.

4. Good Practice Description
Srebrenica is known across the world for the massacre that took place there in July of 1995. Over 7000 people were killed in this massacre, Europe's worst atrocity since World War II. As Serbian troops took over the U.N’.s ‘safe haven,’ those who were not killed were driven out of the enclave. When the Dayton peace agreement that ended the war was signed in December of that year, the municipality that had once had a 70 per cent Muslim population was entirely ‘cleansed’ of Muslims.

As a result of the Serb takeover, tens of thousands of Muslim survivors found themselves displaced, mostly to collective centers and abandoned homes in Tuzla and Sarajevo Cantons. After surviving some of the worst horrors of the war, they were then condemned to living through years of bitterness as refugees: wondering what happened to their loved ones, shunned by their new neighbours, manipulated by their own political representatives, unemployed, and hungry.

Under these conditions, many survivors of Srebrenica left Bosnia once and for all, heading abroad to wherever they could find a home. But this option is not open to the majority of displaced Srebrenicans. Others have tried to make a new life in their new location, but this is difficult, as they are often threatened with eviction from homes that were abandoned by others during the war, who now want to return. Also, a displaced person without work is that much worse off than a local resident without work, in an economy that is running at less than 50% of its pre-war level.

The solution for some Srebrenicans has been to agitate for return to Srebrenica and the villages surrounding it. There, returnees would at least be living in their own homes, and those who own land would be able to make some sort of living. Also, Srebrenicans often speak fondly of their home as being more beautiful than anywhere else. It is only natural that they would wish to return and try to recreate a life there.

However, return to Srebrenica has been thwarted since the end of the war by a daunting array of obstacles. The people who took over Srebrenica have resorted to all kinds of obstruction to prevent Muslims from returning: from low-level terrorism to frustrating bureaucratic hindrances. At the same time, it has seemed that the case of the Srebrenica survivors became political toys in the hands of their own representatives, to be manipulated when useful, and forgotten the rest of the time.

In response to this situation, several organizations have arisen to advocate for the rights of the Srebrenica survivors and for their return. Among these, the Tuzla-based organization Srebrenica 99 stands out for two reasons: it advocates reconciliation between Muslims and Serbs, and in 2000, it accomplished the first group returns to villages around Srebrenica.

The Founding of Srebrenica 99
Leaders of Srebrenica 99 Hakija Meholjic and Vesna Mustafic are both displaced Srebrenicans; Hakija was Srebrenica's police chief during the war, and Vesna is a Serb who is married to a Muslim. Vesna and her husband escaped from Srebrenica in 1992, and Hakija stayed until the fall of Srebrenica, when he escaped to Muslim-controlled territory. Both activists now live in Tuzla, where Srebrenica 99 is based.

Before the war, Serbs and Muslims in Srebrenica had reasonably friendly relations. But most of the Serbs in post-war Srebrenica – as many as 90 per cent – are displaced from other parts of Bosnia. These people are not friendly towards the former inhabitants of Srebrenica. But members of Srebrenica 99 communicate with their former neighbors. While Serbs in Srebrenica who express openness to Muslim return face hostility and intimidation from their own politicians, a tentative groundwork has been laid for better relations between the two ethnic groups.

Some refugees feel that the Serbs who lived in Srebrenica before the war could act as a catalyst for Muslim return. Vesna explained Srebrenica 99's strategy for return. ‘Our approach has been to cultivate relationships with Serbs still living in Srebrenica, former neighbors of ours, who are interested in promoting our return’, said Vesna. ‘In 1998 and 1999 we invited some of these people to Tuzla, where there are many displaced Srebrenicans, to build friendly ties with them gradually’.

Hakija added: ‘We must be concerned about those who are living’, he replied. ‘We cannot forget the dead, but what about the future? The people are not working. We have to strengthen the economy, to get to where we can live without the international community. All of the concentration on the past takes us further away from a solution to our problems’.

’When we decided to form Srebrenica 99, we knew that we would have problems, because we wish to reconcile people’. Vesna continued. ‘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’.

Together with the Tuzla Citizens Forum, Srebrenica 99 has organized low-profile encounters between displaced Srebrenicans and their former Serb neighbors. One of the most encouraging projects was a children's summer camp attended by displaced Muslim children and their former Serb playmates, who still live in Srebrenica.

‘It was on a lake near Teocak, near the inter-entity borderline,’ Vesna recounted. ‘There were around 120 people there for 15 days, aged 10 to 30. People swam and played sports. These were displaced Muslims, and Serbs who are from Srebrenica, who still live there. This shows that people can still live together. ‘

Srebrenica 99 in Action: Returning to Suceska
Srebrenica 99 and other organizations tried for several years to promote return directly to the town of Srebrenica, but their efforts were thwarted by the obstruction mentioned above. By mid-2000, only a handful of people had moved back to the town. Finally, Srebrenica 99 decided to try to resettle some of the villages around Srebrenica.

Hakija explained, ‘We talked to the international community for three years, telling them that we wish to go back to our homes in Srebrenica. There was no assistance from them on this problem. So we decided to take our own steps to return. Our first target is the village of Suceska’.

Suceska is a complex of more than 20 villages. Before the war, the community's population was over 3000. Today these people are scattered around Bosnia and the world. Hakija thought that approximately 1500 people might come back. Srebrenica 99's strategy for return follows the pattern of refugee return throughout Bosnia. It is easier to return to property that has not been occupied than that which has been taken over by other displaced persons, and it is easier to reclaim private property than ‘socially owned’ apartments. Most of the farmhouses in the villages around Srebrenica were destroyed during the war, and thus not available to be taken over by newly-arrived Serbs. But when groups of displaced Srebrenicans were able to demonstrate to international relief organizations that they were ready to return, these organizations, as in other parts of Bosnia, supplied resources for the reconstruction of their houses.

The Suceska return 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. Then on June 3 of 2000, the first group of returnees came back to Suceska and set up tents lent by the UNHCR. They threw up a kitchen/dining shelter and went to work clearing rubble, preparing their houses for reconstruction.

Within a month of the arrival in Suceska, contractors and private owners were replacing roofs, doors, and windows in at least a half-dozen homes. The momentum for return 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.

At the same time, Srebrenica 99 initiated similar resettlement projects in villages that were closer to Srebrenica, such as Podgaj and Bajramovici. At the end of August representatives of 40 families arrived at the villages of Pale (not the former capital of the Republika Srpska), Brosevici, Milacevici, and Susnjari, all near the Srebrenica suburb of Potocari.

The Suceska settlement was composed of ten white tents, each large enough to sleep five or ten people. In front of the tents there was a rustic common kitchen built from rough posts and beams, with a long table that could seat 25 people. On the road by the kitchen, a couple of trucks were unloading some rafter beams, donated by the Tuzla Canton government, to be used for repair of the houses.

I spoke with Abid Salihovic, coordinator of the camp's activities. He had grown up in Brakovci, one of Suceska's villages 15 minutes' walk from the center, and lived there until the fall of Srebrenica in 1995. He told me, ‘We feel safe here now. There are Serbs who come here, and we talk to them. There is a Serb construction firm from Banja Luka working on the community center, and they sleep here without any problem. Hakija said, ‘We can live together with the Serbs without problems, when the politicians don't get involved’.

‘It would be better if there were a multi-ethnic police force,’ Abid continued. ‘There are twelve Muslims now being trained in Banja Luka, and they should be on the force by October 2000’.

After the fall of Srebrenica, Abid lived with his wife and three children in Zenica. He had no work there. He received some oil and flour from a relief organization, but no money. Now he is in the process of clearing rubble from his house and preparing it for reconstruction. Abid told me that almost 800 people from Suceska, mostly men, had been killed during the fall of Srebrenica. The resulting low proportion of able-bodied men now makes reconstruction difficult without international help.

Problems with Resettlement
In the years since the war ended, Srebrenica has been the location of very strong resistance to minority return. So while Srebrenica 99's efforts to resettle the villages near Srebrenica are impressive, it is no surprise that all has not gone smoothly.

It is paradoxical that while Muslim returnees assert that they do not feel endangered in Srebrenica, sporadic attacks have continued. Most of these attacks are committed against property that is being rebuilt for the returnees, rather than upon the returnees themselves. There was a rash of arsons in mid-2000, and fifteen houses were torched in June and July. Several houses in Suceska were targeted. However, the Suceska returnees were determined to stay in Suceska and to continue with reconstruction. The problem of physical attacks, while disturbing, is apparently not one that will bring a halt to refugee returns to Srebrenica. More threatening in the long run is the scarcity of resources for reconstruction. When a hundred people moved into tents in Suceska, they had not secured a supply of materials to rebuild their houses. Fortunately, the UNHCR, Merhamet (a Muslim charity institution), the Tuzla Canton government, and other institutions chipped in to get the reconstruction underway.

However, the continued supply of building materials is not assured. During the return season of 2000 thousands of displaced persons made ‘spontaneous returns’ to tent encampments in many parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially in the east. These returns, while still representing only a fraction of all displaced Bosnians, are straining the international community's support capability. It has been estimated that international agencies may have the resources to assist only approximately ten per cent of all returns. If this is true, the result will be disastrous, not only for Suceska and Srebrenica, but also for all of Bosnia.

For various reasons, Srebrenica 99 has been under-supported financially in its preparations for return. One of the reasons was certainly lack of preparation on the part of the international community in the face of unexpectedly high spontaneous returns. Another may be that Srebrenica 99 is better at organizing its constituency for return than it is at promoting itself to relief agencies.

In this vein, Hakija said, ‘We don't know why the international community has not helped us. Now that we have started the project in Suceska, representatives from the international community are saying that this is the first time that they have heard about our work. All of the nationalist-oriented organizations have plenty of money. We, the only multi-ethnic organization, have nothing. We can't even afford paper for the office’.

By mid-2000, support for Srebrenica 99's projects was picking up. The UNHCR provided generous support, coming up with reconstruction donations from various international agencies, and providing quick grants for tents and stoves. The United States Embassy also increased its donations for returns, and U.S. Ambassador to Bosnia Thomas Miller focused on Srebrenica. Catholic Relief Services coordinated the reconstruction of 20 houses in Suceska.

But hundreds of houses need rebuilding in Srebrenica municipality, and throughout Bosnia, thousands. Going into the winter of 2000-2001, the returnees camping at Suceska without electricity or running water were apprehensive that they were not going to receive the support that they needed.

Another problem facing the Suceska returnees is political. In 2000, Srebrenica 99 receives far more support from the government of Tuzla Canton than it does from its own local representatives on the Srebrenica municipal council. The Muslims who have been elected to this body are predominantly members of the SDA, the nationalist party of Alija Izetbegovic. There is little enthusiasm for Srebrenica 99’s interest in reconciliation within that party. Also, they have severely criticized Srebrenica 99 for resettling villages before the bringing people to the town itself. But these politicians are the very people who, although apartments have been freed up for them in Srebrenica, continue to live in Tuzla and Sarajevo.

This type of animosity or misunderstanding, from the very people who should be encouraging return, does not help Srebrenica 99 to accomplish its goals. But the organization will continue its work.

The Year 2001: Increasing Return
When the return project at Suceska was well underway, Srebrenica 99 intensified its efforts. By the end of summer 2000, tentative resettlement projects were established in villages closer to Srebrenica town. These included Bajramovic, Pale, and other villages near the Srebrenica suburb of Potocari. Returnees spent the rest of the season clearing rubble from their destroyed houses, and waiting for assistance from relief agencies.

Given the harsh winters in mountainous Bosnia, some returnees were compelled to go back to their temporary residences in Tuzla and Sarajevo Canton for the cold season. But in Pale a collective center was opened, housing 30 returnees, with help from the Muslim humanitarian organization Merhamet. Merhamet also plans to open returnee centers in Bratunac and Konjevic Polje, towns a little further away from Srebrenica.

Thus the returnees to villages around Srebrenica will not be camping through the winter. In the spring of 2001 return projects are set to pick up where they left off. Meanwhile, the returnees of Suceska are contemplating ways to make a living. They have land on which to grow fruit and raise cattle, as they did before the war. But they need development assistance, and the dirt road leading to their complex of villages needs to be asphalted. The future of refugee return to Srebrenica depends on help from the international community.

Funders
In 2000 a variety of international organizations, some already mentioned, assisted Srebrenica 99 in its resettlement programs. These include:
UNHCR
Catholic Relief Services
The European Union
Tuzla Canton
The United States Embassy
The Malaysian Embassy
Merhamet

Partners
‘Drina’ Humanitarian Organization
Tuzla Citizens Forum

Contact Information:
Srebrenica 99
Hakija Meholjic
Armije BiH 20/14
75000 Tuzla
Bosnia

Tel.: +387 (0)35 236 315