BOŽIN: AROUND 50,000 SERBS WERE KILLED AND WENT MISSING IN THE TERRITORY OF THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA

BANJA LUKA, MAY 19 /SRNA/ - President of the Coordination of Serbian Associations of Families of Missing and Killed Persons from the territory of the former Yugoslavia, Mirjana Miodrag Božin, said in Banja Luka at a ceremonial academy of the Memorial Centre of Republika Srpska that around 50,000 Serbs were killed or went missing in the territory of the former Yugoslavia between 1990 and 2000.

Božin stressed that no one has been held accountable for crimes committed against Serbs. She stated that across the territory of the former Yugoslavia, 9,579 persons are still being searched for, including 6,140 in BiH, 1,853 in Croatia, and 1,586 in Kosovo and Metohija. Božin added that the issue of missing persons is not political, but a humanitarian and civilizational one. "Families still today, with pain and hope, wait for the truth about their loved ones and for the opportunity to mourn them in a dignified way, and because of that, we will never give up the search for the missing," Božin said. She added that they are appealing to the international community to apply pressure and become involved in resolving the issue of missing persons. "We have an obligation to continue the fight for truth and justice and, together with the Memorial Centre of Republika Srpska, not allow the suffering of the Serb people to be altered or forgotten," Božin said. She stated that the Coordination of Serbian Associations of Families of Missing and Killed Persons is an umbrella organization bringing together 60 associations from Serbia, Republika Srpska, and Montenegro, and that they have signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Memorial Centre aimed at recording and archiving testimonies of family members of victims from the territory of the former Yugoslavia. "These testimonies of family members of Serb victims reveal a long-suppressed truth about their suffering. The deeply moving accounts, in which emotions, fears, and pain are expressed, speak unequivocally about the severity of the times through which our compatriots went during the conflicts," Božin said. She concluded that the testimonies should serve as a warning to society as a whole, as well as to the international community, about the tragedies that occurred and to ensure they are never repeated, noting that the greatest crimes took place in the presence of those who were supposed to prevent them. The ceremonial academy at the Banski Dvor in Banja Luka is attended by officials of Republika Srpska and representatives of Serbia. The academy is being streamed live on SRNA's YouTube channel.