Some of the best ambassadors of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who achieve historic results at the World Cup, come from Podrinje, the area where the biggest crime on European soil after the Second World War was committed. We are talking about generations of young people born far from Bosnia and Herzegovina, but who carry their homeland in their hearts and represent it in the world’s biggest stadiums with unity, courage and spite.
Correspondent of the Federal Television from Srebrenica, Meliha Herić, together with her interlocutors, brings the story of the victory of love over hate and good over evil. Although the life of the residents of Srebrenica is still burdened with uncertainty, because an environment for sustainable development and progress has never been created, the hope for a better future has not disappeared.
Memory and life together
At the Memorial Center in Potočari, the victims have found peace, the number of victims engraved on the stone slab is not final, and the monument to the victims of Srebrenica, the Flower of Srebrenica, in front of the United Nations headquarters in New York, as well as in other cities around the world, is a permanent reminder of the most serious war crime – genocide in the protected UN enclave in July 1995.
While the resolution on permanent memorialization and remembrance of the greatest crime on European soil after World War II is being implemented, but the verdicts are being denied, the criminals are being glorified, and history and facts are being distorted, the people of Srebrenica believe in a better life and future in their city 31 years after the genocide.
Journalist Adem Mehmedović, who has lived here for years, does not hide his regret that young people are leaving and looking for a more favorable environment to live in.
“Srebrenica will survive and someone will live here. The only question is to what extent and how much, because young people are leaving Srebrenica. It is difficult to predict how many people will live here in ten years. Today there are fewer of them than ten years ago. We do not have a population growth trend, but a downward trend. If it continues, the situation will be very uncertain,” said Mehmedović.
New opportunities are needed
Srebrenica abounds in natural beauty, tourist resources, but for the development of this local community and the retention of young people, new investments and incentives for creating new jobs are needed.
Given that many years have been lost, there are different opinions on whether there will be political will to accelerate the sustainable development of this region and provide young people with more opportunities for a living from their own work.
The head of the Legal Department of the Srebrenica Memorial Center – Potočari, Mirnes Zahirović, believes that there is development potential.
“In general, Srebrenica has a perspective for the development of tourism and other economic branches. I think that the entire country and the local community must invest much more effort in order to create even better living conditions,” said Zahirović.
Genocide victim Muhizin Omerović warns that the feeling of hopelessness among residents is increasingly pronounced.
“It is not the most important thing how people live in terms of quality of life. It is important to say that people are in a kind of hopelessness, that they are lost, that they feel left behind again and that they do not see the future. Young people are leaving and we are losing population every day. Years after the war, we expected that a development plan would be made, because the future is being planned. Unfortunately, that did not happen,” Omerović pointed out.
The victory of love over hate
And faith in a better future, in Srebrenica, as well as in other BiH cities, is also brought by the soccer Dragons with their courage and winning mentality. Among them are those whose parents are originally from Podrinje, who have instilled in their children a Bosnian-Herzegovinian heart, defiance, stubbornness, fighting spirit and self-confidence.
“Today we have young people originally from Srebrenica all over the world and they are achieving remarkable results. I hope that the time will come when people will return to Srebrenica, start families here and build their lives,” said Mehmedović.
Love can conquer hatred, demographic data can be different. Young footballers who fight for their country in world stadiums with world teams have given politicians a lesson in how to defend Bosnia and Herzegovina with heart and results, Federalna writes.
