Samira El-Baravi, originally from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and her family, two months after being evacuated from Gaza to Egypt, arrived today via Istanbul in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Part of the El-Baravi family arrived in Bosnia and Herzegovina earlier, and today Samira, her husband and two children also came to Sarajevo. The reason for the two-month wait, as explained by the Palestinian Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was to wait for the preparation and delivery of documents so that they could leave Cairo.
Today, Samira El-Barai and her family were welcomed at the Sarajevo airport with many tears and joy by her mother Sutka, the rest of the family, representatives of the Palestinian Community in BiH, as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH Elmedin Konaković and the Minister of Human Rights and Refugees of BiH Sevlid Hurtić. Samira’s children went out carrying the flags of Palestine and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“I want to thank the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the ministries of foreign affairs and human rights, the embassy for all the efforts they made and managed to save us from the war in Gaza,” Samira El-Baravi said through tears.
“All I can say is that I am very happy today. Our life remained in Gaza, the day we left Gaza we lost everything.”
Judge El-Baravi said that she cannot describe what she feels as a mother today. When asked by a journalist if there were any members of her family left in Gaza, she answered:
“Gaza, all of Palestine, it’s all my family. I lived there for 33 years. My family and I were loved and respected by everyone there. I am happy that my family is here, but we will never be happy because our loved ones are going through hell there, where tanks run over children.”
Minister Konaković pointed out that he is glad for another successful action by Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“I am very glad that today we are witnessing the arrival of four more people from the war-torn Gaza. This is part of the team that we managed to bring out of Gaza together with our ambassadors. They were in Egypt for a little over two months. Thank God, today with the decision of the Council of Ministers for the three of them and with my decision and that of Ambassador Subašić on the humanitarian visa, we have the opportunity to reunite the family. And we are really looking forward to that,” Konaković said.
He added that they are following all events surrounding BiH with special attention also reminding of doctor Muhammed al-Ran.
“The doctor for whom we received information that he was arrested and transferred to another prison is the subject of our interest and we are closely following the whole story,” Konaković said.
When asked by a journalist if he has the exact number of our people who are currently in Gaza, Konaković said that he will monitor the development of events for the rest of BiH citizens, reminding that BiH has successfully evacuated 43 of its citizens so far.
“We have five people who have been approved for exit from the Israeli side, seven people for whom we have not received approval, and we expect that, among whom are three citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Konaković concluded.
Minister Hurtić said that the family of four will be accommodated in Salakovac, where 11 other people are currently staying, and where everything will be provided for them.
“They have already raised the issue of asylum and it is in the procedure and we hope that it will be resolved soon. They have health care and food, just like everyone else who arrived,” Hurtić said.
On Thursday, January 11, 2024, the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina made a decision to allow this family to enter Bosnia and Herzegovina, and they left Cairo in the past few days, AA writes.
Photo ©️ AA
