Today, the Assembly of Sarajevo Canton adopted the Law on Special Programs of Sarajevo Canton for Memorialization of Genocide, Support to Return and Development of Srebrenica, Assistance to Victims and Families of Victims of Genocide against Bosniaks in the UN Protected Area “Srebrenica”.
The law will provide 2,000,000 BAM annually to support victims of genocide and families of victims of genocide.
Igor Stojanovic in the Assembly of CS launched an initiative to pass a special law that would guarantee special measures of support to this local community. A working group was established which, based on requests from local communities in eastern Bosnia, began finalizing the proposed Stojanovic solution. Finally, after a few months of waiting, with a couple of cancellations.
Today, the agenda of the Sarajevo Canton Assembly includes a bill on special programs of the Sarajevo Canton for genocide memorialization, support for the return and development of Srebrenica, assistance to victims and families of victims of genocide against Bosniaks in the UN protected zone “Srebrenica”.
What does it bring?
For the first time, a legal solution accurately linked the status of genocide victims and their families to access to rights and support programs. More importantly, the proposed provisions will not only apply to Srebrenica residents, but also to others who were expelled, deported or whose family members were killed in July 1995 after the fall of the Srebrenica protected zone.
At the same time, according to its solutions – the law brings benefits to the whole community, and in many segments allows everyone, regardless of ethnicity or affiliation to the status of genocide victim, to access budget support (through companies, projects, employment of protected categories, etc.).
The law directs funds towards proactive initiatives: such as co-financing education and training of persons, financing high-skilled labor mobility programs, subsidizing public transport and re-establishing the bus line on the Srebrenica-Sarajevo-Srebrenica line, grants for investors, cultural and sports projects, but also activities of the Memorial Center and other organizations focused on research on genocide, return and protection of human rights in the region of eastern Bosnia.
The law also envisions the establishment of a Sarajevo Canton government office to support Srebrenica, Klix.ba writes.
