International Family Day, May 15, was marked in a special way, organized by the Advisory Board of the Institute for Missing Persons of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with an event in the building of the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo.
The board wanted to draw attention to the fact that families are still searching for more than seven and a half thousand people from Bosnia and Herzegovina who went missing during the past war, and that they have been struggling with the unknown for years without knowing the truth about the fate of their loved ones.
“Today, on International Family Day, when we celebrate love, belonging and security together, the families of the missing are actually reminded of a wound that is bleeding and will never heal. In this way, we wanted to raise our voice and call on those responsible to give this problem the place it deserves,” it was said at a press conference held after the meeting.
Nikola Perišić, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Institute for Missing Persons of Bosnia and Herzegovina, stated that the Advisory Board and representatives of family associations organized a meeting whose clear message is that families must have the right to truth, justice and dignity, primarily the truth about the fate of their loved ones, the place and circumstances of their disappearance, as well as the right to receive their remains in order to bury them with dignity. Unfortunately, we are still searching for 7,561 missing persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Compared to the republics of the former Yugoslavia, this is more than 70 percent, which best speaks of the dimensions and severity of the tragedy, the suffering during the conflict that the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina went through,” said Perišić.
According to him, mortal remains are often found in rivers, lakes, pits, on garbage dumps and in mined areas.
“I think that today’s gathering is a good opportunity to send a message to the entire Bosnian and Herzegovinan public, especially the authorities, to do everything and help so that the process of searching for the missing is brought to an end and that we, as a society, turn to the future. We thank the families who have made a great contribution to the smooth operation of the Institute and a great contribution to mutual understanding, tolerance and support,” said Perišić.
Midheta Kaloper, Chairwoman of the Advisory Board of the Institute for Missing Persons of Bosnia and Herzegovina, stated that the families of the missing also want to express their dissatisfaction on the International Day in the hope that they will one day learn the fate of their members.
“Our slogan today “Families without answers – Life between loss and hope” itself speaks for itself how we have been living for 34 years. We also used this date to send a clear message to the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina that the problem of the families of the missing should be urgent because a society that does not search for its missing people ultimately loses itself,” said Kaloper.
On behalf of the families of the missing, she appealed for institutions to be more involved in solving this problem.
The Institute for Missing Persons of Bosnia and Herzegovina, announcing today’s event, pointed out that hundreds of families in Bosnia and Herzegovina are welcomed ‘with the heavy burden of empty chairs and silence at their table while the world remembers the universal values of togetherness’.
For several decades, the lives of these families have been between hope and silence. On this day, they demand the right to truth, dignity and the end of agony without political excuses, the Institute stated.
