Srebrenica massacre: ‘What happened should be known’

Berija Delic also lost her husband in the massacre. His remains were only found a decade later, and were buried in 2010.

Last year, Berija decided to return to Srebrenica from Malta, where she sought refuge after the war.

Her son, a Muslim, married a Serb Orthodox woman who “loves my baclava,” she says, referring to a sweet delicacy she cooks.

Before the 1990s war, Srebrenica was largely a Bosniak Muslim town.

Now, the majority of the population is Serb; some of the residents had been soldiers during the conflict.

“Even now you see someone walking around town, and you know that he has killed [Bosniaks] – but you remain silent, you cannot deal with that,” says Berija.

Following the war, Bosnia was divided into two entities – Republika Srpska and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Srebrenica is in Republika Srpska.

In the years since the war, the Bosniak population dwindled and the Serb population grew, but now they have one problem in common – unemployment.

“Serbs and Bosniaks have no problems between them here, tensions are brought by people from the outside,” says Slavisa Petrovic, a 37-year old Serb who runs the local tourist office.

But he says the town needs jobs for people to entice them to stay.

The recent UN resolution on the massacre has not changed anything, Slavisa adds.

“People are leaving Srebrenica now just like they as they did before it [the adoption of the resolution]. There are no jobs, just like there weren’t before.”

There are signs of decline in the town. A once popular local spa and a formerly luxurious hotel are closed, having been abandoned for decades. Their walls are covered in graffiti.